Task force 2009

USP

STF 25 198 th Ann i 4– 200 versary 9

The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2009
Recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2009
Recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

The recommendation statements in this Guide are abridged. To view the full recommendation statements or recommendation statementspublished after March 2009, go to http://www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov. The U.S Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS) allows users to download the USPSTF recommendations to PDA devices, receive PDA e-mail notifications of updates, and search and browse recommendations online. Users can search the ePSS for recommendations by patient age, sex,and pregnancy status. To download, subscribe, or search, go to http://epss.ahrq.gov. Recommendations made by the USPSTF are independent of the U.S. Government. They should not be construed as an official position of AHRQ or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Foreword
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is pleased to present The Guide to Clinical PreventiveServices 2009, the annually updated pocket guide that puts evidence-based, “gold-standard” recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) at your fingertips. The 2009 Guide includes 69 recommendations made by the Task Force from 2002 to March 2009. The USPSTF recommendations are routinely used to provide high-quality and appropriate preventive care. Among the new and updatedrecommendations contained in the 2009 guide are several that address chronic conditions in adults, including screening for lipid disorders; type 2 diabetes; colorectal, prostate, and skin cancer; as well as use of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease. Underscoring its relevance to practicing clinicians, the aspirin recommendation was one of the most-viewed downloads from the Annals of InternalMedicine Web site for several months following its publication in mid-March 2009. The 2009 Guide includes screening and treatment recommendations for children and adolescents on a wide range of topics (see Section 3 of this Guide). Also, a new section of the USPSTF Web page, titled “Focus on Children and Adolescents,” (http://www.ahrq.gov/ clinic/tfchfocus.htm) features a categorical index ofrecommendations plus information on the Task Force’s processes for reviewing evidence and making iii

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recommendations about child and adolescent preventive services. The USPSTF recommendations and the Guide continue to improve how preventive care services are delivered in this country. For example, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has incorporated USPSTFrecommendations into the development of materials for an educational outreach program, known as Public Health Detailing. This program works with primary care providers to improve patient care relating to key public health challenges. Under the program, health department representatives promote clinical preventive services and chronic disease management through the delivery of brief, targeted messages tohealth care providers and staff at their practice sites. Humana, Inc., uses USPSTF recommendations as a preventive health resource for its provider community. The Task Force’s preventive health recommendations are posted on Humana’s provider Web site as a reference tool for the company’s some 450,000 providers across the country. The USPSTF recommendations on clinical preventive services can helpyou collaborate with your patients to make better-informed decisions about offering preventive services, and it can help you improve the preventive services that you provide. In addition to this convenient pocket guide format, I

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encourage you to explore the Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS), available at http://epss.ahrq.gov, which allows you to download the full...