Posted: March 22nd, 2023

Epidemiological Methods

Breast cancer is a widespread health care problem, mostly affecting adults. Consequently, effective screening is necessary to support early and effective treatment for individuals suffering from the illness. Although health care providers can use various screening tools, the commonly used tools for adults and seniors is Screening for Breast Cancer: AFP’s Putting Prevention into Practice.

The tool selected is aimed at screening for breast cancer among asymptomatic women aged 40 years or older. It is used for adults and seniors who do not have preexisting breast cancer or a previous diagnosis of high-risk breast lesions and with a low risk of developing the disease (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2016). The tool is proven effective for screening in the target age group.

The Screening for Breast Cancer tool has been adequately tested for use among adults and seniors. The journal of American Family Physician (AFP) includes case studies involving the possible use of the screening tool and its recommendations for use in the target population.

The screening tool is relevant for testing breast cancer among adults and seniors. It reveals a high predictive ability that proves the positive predictive value of mammography, which increases with age and the history of the condition. The test is reliable and valid because it has already been used in real-life situations (Seely & Alhassan, 2018). Previous studies reveal high reliability and validity values when the tool is used for the right target population. The predictive value in a meta-analysis was 0.84 (95%) (Nelson et al., 2016). The tool is sensitive to screen breast cancer in adults and seniors.

As it is evident from the discussion, screening for Breast Cancer: AFP’s Putting Prevention into Practice is a useful tool for testing the incidence of breast cancer in adults and seniors. The method is applicable in advanced practice for screening breast cancer objectively and empirically. Notably, the tool has been used successfully in a hospital setting.