U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)-Related Articles, January 2, 2015

American Family Physician
Ebell M, Herzstein J. Improving quality by doing less: overscreening. Am Fam Physician 2015 Jan 1; 91(1):22, 24. [Authors are members of the USPSTF; cites USPSTF-sponsored systematic review on screening for colorectal cancer (Ann Intern Med, 2008) and USPSTF recommendations on screening for colorectal cancer (Ann Intern Med, 2012); summarizes in a table USPSTF "D" recommendations.]

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Sabik LM, Tarazi WW, Bradley CJ. State Medicaid expansion decisions and disparities in women's cancer screening. Am J Prev Med 2015 Jan; 48(1):98-103. [Uses USPSTF recommendations on screening for cervical cancer and breast cancer as criteria for assessing screening rates, citing USPSTF recommendation statements, Screening for Cervical Cancer, 2002 and 2012, and Screening for Breast Cancer, 2009, and USPSTF-sponsored evidence update on screening for breast cancer (Nelson et al., Ann Intern Med, 2009).] Select to access the abstract.

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Tanoue LT, Tanner NT, Gould MK, Silvestri GA. Lung cancer screening. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2015 Jan 1; 191(1):19-33. [Summarizes updated USPSTF recommendations on lung cancer screening (Moyer et al., Ann Intern Med, 2014, and USPSTF draft recommendation statement, Screening for Breast Cancer, 2013) and the evidence base related to these recommendations, citing USPSTF-sponsored evidence review by Humphrey et al (Ann Intern Med, 2013) on screening for lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography.] Select to access the abstract.

JAMA Surgery
Bailey CE, Hu CY, You YN, Bednarski BK, Rodriguez-Bigas MA, Skibber JM, Cantor SB, Chang GJ. Increasing disparities in the age-related incidences of colon and rectal cancers in the United States, 1975-2010. JAMA Surg 2015 Jan; 150(1):17-22. [Cites USPSTF recommendations on screening for colorectal cancer and associated evidence review (both in Ann Intern Med, 2002).] Select to access the abstract.

New England Journal of Medicine
McAfee T, Babb S, McNabb S, Fiore MC. Helping smokers quit—opportunities created by the Affordable Care Act. N Engl J Med 2015 Jan 1; 372(1):5-7. [Discusses tobacco-cessation services as part of coverage mandated under the Affordable Care Act for preventive services rated A or B by the USPSTF; cites AHRQ-sponsored guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update, 2008.]

Revista Chilena de Infectologia
Manterola C, Asenjo-Lobos C, Otzen T. [Hierarchy of evidence: levels of evidence and grades of recommendation from current use]. Rev Chilena Infectol 2014 Dec; 31(6):705-18. [Reviews the levels of evidence system used by the USPSTF, citing USPSTF-sponsored article by Harris et al. (Am J Prev Med, 2001) on USPSTF methodologies and USPSTF publication, Grade Definitions.] Select to access the abstract.

Women’s Health Issues
Sonfield A. What the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality forgets to tell Americans about how to protect their sexual and reproductive health. Womens Health Issues 2015 Jan-Feb; 25(1):1-2. [Discusses AHRQ’s use of USPSTF recommendations in developing consumer publications and the need for inclusion of preventive services related to reproductive health in AHRQ consumer fact sheets, citing Living a Healthy Lifestyle, 2014, and Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age, 2014.]