Sexual Health | Public health | Diagnostic Testing: Principles and Practice of Screening

Diagnostic Testing: Principles and Practice of Screening
Session Overview
Description
This session will introduce you to the public health principles of screening programmes, including the criteria that should be fulfilled before a screening programme is initiated and regulatory structures for oversight of screening programmes in the UK.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Define what screening is
• Describe currently accepted criteria for deciding whether a screening programme should be introduced and list some of the conditions for which screening is offered without meeting these criteria
• Identify the key features of register based and of opportunistic approaches to screening, along with their advantages and disadvantages
• Interpret sensitivity and specificity data in relation to a proposed screening programme
• Identify essential requirements in the evaluation and quality control of a screening programme
• Describe the characteristics of sexual health related screening programmes currently existing or proposed in one or more of the UK countries (including chlamydia, antenatal HIV screening and wider HIV testing)

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should complete the following:

• Module 2/Interpreting Laboratory Tests (260-0018)

Few areas of health, and particularly sexual health, are uncontested. Screening programmes, in particular, are characterised by controversy and often seem to polarise public opinion with the same programme portrayed as both life saving and a cause of considerable harm.

In the UK, extensive regulations and guidance have been set out for the initiation and management of screening programmes. The principles of screening – well set out by the National Screening Committee in the UK – may differ from the dilemmas and controversies faced by virtually all screening programmes in practice. In this session we will compare the principles with the practice of screening.

While the focus is on programmes in sexual health described as screening, we touch on other screening programmes to illustrate some of the issues in developing, delivering and evaluating screening.