Screening

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

1. 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.
2. Identify appropriate screening criteria
   1. Define the criteria that must be met to make a disease suitable for screening
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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