title: Screening pelvic examination in adult women: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians.
abstract: METHODS
  The American College of Physicians (ACP) developed this guideline to present the evidence and provide clinical recommendations on the utility of screening pelvic examination for the detection of pathology in asymptomatic, nonpregnant, adult women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This guideline is based on a systematic review of the published literature in the English language from 1946 through January 2014 identified using MEDLINE and hand-searching. Evaluated outcomes include morbidity; mortality; and harms, including overdiagnosis, overtreatment, diagnostic procedure-related harms, fear, anxiety, embarrassment, pain, and discomfort. The target audience for this guideline includes all clinicians, and the target patient population includes asymptomatic, nonpregnant, adult women. This guideline grades the evidence and recommendations using the ACP's clinical practice guidelines grading system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ACP recommends against performing screening pelvic examination in asymptomatic, nonpregnant, adult women (strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence).
authors: Amir
authors: A
authors: Qaseem
authors: Linda L
authors: LL
authors: Humphrey
authors: Russell
authors: R
authors: Harris
authors: Melissa
authors: M
authors: Starkey
authors: Thomas D
authors: TD
authors: Denberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000175:diagnosis*; D058869:Gynecological Examination / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000592:standards*; D012307:Risk Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology