Section 5. Topics in Progress

Each USPSTF recommendation goes through several stages of development. The review process takes into account input from the medical and research community, stakeholders, and the general public.

The length of time for the entire recommendation process varies depending on the amount and type of available evidence and the time required for compilation of data into a draft recommendation, public comment periods and consideration of comments, and in-depth review and discussions among USPSTF members.

The following topics are in review and are likely to be issued as drafts for public comment during 2012:

• Alcohol Misuse, Screening and Behavioral Counseling
• Breast Cancer, Preventive Medications
• Child Abuse and Neglect, Interventions to Prevent
• Glaucoma, Screening
• Hepatitis C Virus in Adults, Screening
• HIV Infection, Screening
• Thyroid Disease, Screening
• Tobacco Use (Children and Adolescents), Interventions to Prevent

Recommendations on the following topics were published during the production of the 2012 Guide to Clinical Preventive Services or are in review and are likely to be published as final recommendations during 2012:

• Chronic Kidney Disease, Screening
• Coronary Heart Disease, Screening With Electrocardiography
• Falls in Older Adults, Interventions to Prevent
• Healthful Diet and Physical Activity for CVD Prevention, Counseling
• Hearing Loss in Older Adults, Screening
• Hormone Therapy in Postmenopausal Women, Preventive Medication
• Intimate Partner Violence and Elderly Abuse, Screening
• Obesity in Adults, Screening
• Ovarian Cancer, Screening
• Prostate Cancer, Screening
• Skin Cancer, Counseling
• Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation to Prevent Cancer and Fractures

The following topics are in earlier stages of review and are likely to be issued as drafts or published as final recommendations sometime after 2012:

• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Screening
• BRCA 1 & 2, Screening and Counseling
• Dementia, Screening
• Gestational Diabetes, Screening
• High Blood Pressure (Children and Adolescents), Screening
• Lung Cancer, Screening
• Oral Cancer, Screening
• Peripheral Artery Disease, Screening
• Suicide Risk, Screening
• Vitamin Supplementation to Prevent Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

Please visit the USPSTF Recommendations page at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/recommendations.htm to find the most current recommendations, as well as information on the status of topics being updated.

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