Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
August 8, 2003, Vol. 03-67

U.S. PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE RELEASES NEW MEN'S AND WOMEN'S PREVENTIVE HEALTH CHECKLISTS

NIH Council of Public Representatives (COPR)

Do you and your patients feel inundated with information about prevention and medical screening tests? From mammograms to prostate cancer screenings to cholesterol and blood pressure tests, it can be confusing to figure out which tests are needed and when.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has produced two brand-new pamphlets entitled "Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup" and "Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup" tell you exactly what you need to know about the most important screening tests. As always, the recommendations from the Task Force are based on scientific evidence. The pamphlets also include information about how to stay healthy and allow patients to record which screening tests they've received, when, and when they should be tested again.

The women's checklist can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywom.htm in English and at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywomsp.htm in Spanish.

The men's checklist can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymen.htm in English and at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymensp.htm in Spanish.

Printed copies of the checklists can be mailed to you. Copies can be ordered from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse by calling (800) 358-9295 or sending an email to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov.