Screening

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Handbook of Epidemiology

Abstract

Screening, sometimes termed “secondary prevention,” is one of the major components of disease control. It is particularly relevant for the control of cancers such as breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. While there was partly the belief that screening is always advantageous, the complexity of population screening is now well recognized, as is the need for carefully balancing the benefits, harms and risks of screening. This chapter will address the general principles governing the introduction of screening, the ethics of screening, the population to be included in screening, the evaluation of the efficacy of screening, as well as several aspects related to population-based screening programs.

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Correspondence to Ulrike Haug .

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Miller, A.B., Haug, U. (2023). Screening. In: Ahrens, W., Pigeot, I. (eds) Handbook of Epidemiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6625-3_32-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6625-3_32-1

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