Refining population screening
Population screening aims to identify medical conditions in the general population before symptoms emerge, allowing for early intervention or preventative measures to mitigate more severe illnesses. In the past, screening approaches have often applied a one-size-fits-all approach to an entire population.
In contrast, ‘personalised’ screening approaches use individualised risk predictions to tailor screening recommendations for specific individuals or groups, to enhance screening outcomes as well as optimising resource allocation. While a variety of data sources can inform risk predictions, there has been considerable recent interest in the use of genetic information, such as polygenic risk scores (such as polygenic risk scores). It’s important to note that for most diseases that are common in a population, genetic factors contribute only a portion of the overall risk. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of factors will be important in refining population screening
The CPM explores the potential benefits and constraints of these newer approaches to screening.
