Screening in Public Health Practice

Competencies Addressed

Council on Linkages, Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals

1. Analytical/Assessment Skills

1C1. Reviews the health status pf populations and their related determinants of health and illness

1C3. Evaluates variables that measure public health conditions

1C6. Evaluates the integrity and comparability of data

1C12. Incorporates data into the resolution of scientific, political, ethical, and social public health concerns

2. Policy Development/Program Planning Skills

2B2. Analyzes policy options for public health

2B7. Develops plans to implement policies and programs

6. Public Health Science Skills

6B7. Determines the limitations of research findings

This module provides an awareness-level training in the following epidemiology competency and subcompetencies developed by the University of Washington (UW Epidemiology Competencies).

Competency 7: Evaluate the efficacy or effectiveness of a screening program.

Subcompetency A: Explain the purposes of screening.

1. Describe the role of screening in secondary prevention of disease
2. Identify some successes and failures of specific screening programs employed in the U.S.

Subcompetency B: Identify appropriate screening criteria.

1. Define the criteria that must be met to make a disease suitable for screening

Subcompetency C: Identify and explain measures of validity.

1. Define and interpret measures of validity of a screening test (sensitivity and specificity)
2. Calculate the sensitivity and specificity of a screening test
3. Explain the significance of sensitivity and specificity in determining whether a screening tool is a good one

Subcompetency D: Identify and explain the predictive values of a positive and negative test.

1. Calculate the positive and negative predictive values of a screening test
2. Describe the relationship between predictive value positive of a screening test and prevalence of disease in the population being screened
3. Explain the significance of the positive and negative predictive values in deciding whether to implement a screening program

Subcompetency E: Establish and evaluate screening programs.

1. Describe the difference between efficacy and effectiveness
2. Identify the measures of disease frequency that are important to monitor when evaluating the performance of a screening program