Newswise — HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services 2005, which highlights current recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. These evidence-based recommendations for clinicians address preventive services, which include screening tests, counseling, and preventive medications for adults and children in the primary care setting.
The guide includes the Task Force's recommendations on prevention and early detection for cancer; heart and vascular diseases; infectious diseases; injury and violence; mental health conditions and substance abuse; metabolic, nutritional, and endocrine conditions; musculoskeletal conditions; and obstetric and gynecological conditions.
The guide contains recommendations that have been adapted for a pocket-size book, making it easier for clinicians to consult the recommendations in their daily practice. Recommendations are presented in an indexed, easy-to-use format, with at-a-glance charts. Recommendation statements and supporting statements from the Task Force are available at the AHRQ Website at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/prevenix.htm.
"This pocket-size guide makes it easy for clinicians to use as a quick evidence-based reference," said Task Force Chair Ned Calonge, M.D., who is also Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "The guide carries on the 20-year tradition of the Task Force in setting the standard for evidence-based prevention recommendations. I hope clinicians find it a useful tool as they care for patients."
The guide is one of several resources that provide access to the Task Force's recommendations. Task Force recommendations are also available as a clinical decision support tool for personal digital assistants (PDAs), called the Interactive Preventive Services Selector. This free application is available for download from the AHRQ Website at http://pda.ahrq.gov/index.html.
The Task Force, which is supported by AHRQ, is the leading independent panel of private-sector experts in prevention and primary care. Its recommendations are considered the gold standard for clinical preventive services. It conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for a broad range of preventive services.
Free single copies of the new guide are available free of charge at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/pocketgd.htm, by calling the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at 1-800-358-9295 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].
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