Principles for Primary Care Screening in the Context of Population Health

Abstract

A key component of primary care pediatrics is health promotion through screening: applying a test or procedure to detect a previously unrecognized disease or disease risk. How do we decide whether to screen? In 1965, Wilson and Jungner published an influential set of screening principles focused on the health problem's importance, the screening tool's performance, and the evidence for treatment efficacy. However, if we want realistic estimates of the population effects of routine screening, we must also account for the health care system's real-world functioning and disparities in care. We offer revised principles to guide discussions about routine screening in the primary care setting. We add to Wilson and Jungner's principles: 1. A focus on life course epidemiology and its consequences for population health, 2. A need to screen for the early stages of chronic health problems, 3. A concern for screening's acceptability to providers and the community, 4. A recommendation for estimating the uncertainty in benefits and harms in evaluating screening, 5. Inclusion of systematic plans for population data collection and monitoring, and 6. Recognition that achieving population health improvement requires a high-performing system with sufficient throughput and monitoring to deliver accessible, affordable, and effective care, especially for the groups experiencing the greatest inequities in access. Above all, instead of assuming best practices in treatment delivery and monitoring after screening, we argue for realism about the health care system functioning in routine practice.

Keywords: mental health; primary care; screening.