Is there a right age for case finding in elderly people?
If age is a useful basis for determining a screening policy the benefit of the resulting interventions should vary with age. The choice of the screening age will be such as to maximize the benefit. Data from a study of the screening of elderly people by a Health Visitor produced no evidence to support the choice of 75 as minimum age for screening in primary care. Indeed there was a suggestion that age might be more useful as a maximum rather than a minimum criterion.
Vetter
N J
NJ
Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff.
Lewis
P A
PA
Llewellyn
L
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D004739:England; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D011788:Quality of Life