screening

1. To screen (5). 2. Examination of a group of usually asymptomatic individuals to detect those with a high probability of having a given disease, typically by means of an inexpensive diagnostic test. 3. In the mental health professions, initial patient evaluation that includes medical and psychiatric history, mental status evaluation, and diagnostic formulation to determine the patient's suitability for a particular treatment modality.

- carrier s. indiscriminate examination of members of a population to detect heterozygotes for serious disorders and counsel about the risks of marriages with other carriers, and by antenatal diagnosis where a married couple are both carriers; often sacrifices specificity to sensitivity and is most effectively applied to populations known to be at high risk.

- cytologic s. a s. for the detection of early disease, usually cancer, through microscopic examination of a cellular specimen by inspecting each cell and structure present, usually at ×100 magnification with a mechanical stage, so that all areas are screened; the findings are evaluated and significant abnormalities are flagged ( e.g., by dotting the cover slip) for further evaluation by a cytopathologist. This s. is usually performed by a cytotechnologist, but at times is done by automated machine prescreening.

- familial s. s. directed at close relatives of probands with diseases that may lie latent, as in age-dependent dominant traits, or that may involve risk to progeny, as X-linked traits.

- mass s. examination of a large population to detect the manifestation of a disease in order to initiate treatment or prevent spread, as part of a public health campaign.

- multiphasic s. the routine use of multiple tests, usually biochemical, for the purpose of detecting disease at a preventable or curable stage.

- neonatal s. testing of newborns for the detection of preventable or curable disease or for diagnosis of genetic disease.

- prenatal s. s. for the detection of fetal disease, usually by ultrasound examination or by testing amnionic fluid obtained by amniocentesis. Other s. techniques include testing maternal serum and placental biopsy.

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screen·ing (skrēnґing) 1. examination or testing of a group of individuals to separate those who are well from those who have an undiagnosed disease or defect or who are at high risk. 2. fluoroscopy (Great Britain).