Should we screen all adolescent girls and women for anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses, affecting up to 40% of women and 20% of men in the course of their lifetimes. Women and adolescent girls are at particularly high risk for the development of anxiety disorders, due to differences in their brain chemistry, psychosocial contributors such as childhood sexual abuse, as well as the hormonal effects of estrogen and progesterone. Since anxiety disorders are so common among women and girls, could early detection lead to improved outcomes? The US expert recommendations In a recent clinical guideline, the Women’s Preventive Service Initiative (WPSI) recommends screening all women and adolescent girls ages 13 and older for anxiety disorders, including pregnant and postpartum women. The WPSI is a national coalition of 21 health professional organizations and patient representatives that researches and disseminates evidence-based recommendations for women’s preventive health care services. Their universal screening recommendations are based on a systematic review that demonstrates moderate to high accuracy of screening tools, but clearly acknowledges that no studies have evaluated the effectiveness or harms of screening. While these new guidelines recommend a wider net for screening, as a practicing psychiatrist I believe we should not recommend further screening until the potential harms have been evaluated. Why are the recommendations changing? Although the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Source Type: blogs