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Public Health & Epidemiology vocabulary · Prevention and Vaccination

Screening

Meaning in public health & epidemiology, with examples

/ˈskriːnɪŋ/nounCore term

In public health & epidemiology, screening means: Testing people who have no symptoms to find a disease or its early signs, so that it can be treated earlier and more successfully.

In Turkish: tarama

How it is used

Examples include cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening and newborn screening. People are invited for, offered or attend screening; programmes are judged by uptake, accuracy and harms such as overdiagnosis.

Example sentences

  1. Only half of eligible women attended breast screening last year.

  2. Newborn screening can detect several rare conditions in the first days of life.

Common collocations

  • screening programme
  • cancer screening
  • screening test
  • screening uptake
  • population screening
  • secondary preventionFinding a disease early, before or soon after symptoms begin, and acting quickly to stop it from getting worse, for example through screening.
  • primary preventionAction taken to stop a disease or injury from happening at all, for example vaccination, seat belt laws or reducing the salt in processed food.
  • tertiary preventionReducing the impact of an illness that people already have, by preventing complications, disability and relapse and helping them live as well as possible.
  • health educationPlanned learning activities that give people the knowledge, skills and motivation to make healthier choices, for example lessons, workshops, counselling or leaflets.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Prevention and Vaccination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.