When to stop screening: a review of breast, gynecologic, and colorectal cancer screening in women over age 65. Care Manag J 2010;11(1):48-57
Date
04/30/2010Pubmed ID
20426320DOI
10.1891/1521-0987.11.1.48Scopus ID
2-s2.0-77949285589 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
Because age alone is not an indicator of health, there is no clear consensus among the various cancer screening guidelines on when to stop cancer screening. For breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, there are recommended screening tests, while, for other gynecologic cancers, there are not. When discussing with older women patients when to stop cancer screening, we encourage practitioners to review the goals of the screening test, assess the health and functional status of the patient, and discuss her values and health goals. To facilitate this discussion, we review proposed frameworks for determining when to screen older patients for cancer. We also review the concepts of "well" and "frail" older adults. Finally, we review the current screening recommendations for breast, gynecological, and colorectal cancers, and the reasoning behind them, from the United States Preventative Screening Task Force, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Geriatric Society.
Author List
Bernstein R, DeJoseph D, Buchanan EMAuthor
Rebecca Bernstein MD Associate Professor in the Family Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Age FactorsAged
Breast Neoplasms
Colorectal Neoplasms
Communication
Female
Genital Neoplasms, Female
Humans
Mass Screening
Physician-Patient Relations
Risk Factors
United States
