The Preventive Care Checklist Form© is an evidenced-based tool for Canadian family physicians to use at complete health checkups of adults. The complete health checkup of adults is a time for family physicians to focus on preventive health care with their patients. In one study, 94% of primary care physicians felt that annual physical examinations provided an opportunity to counsel patients on preventive health services and improve the doctor-patient relationship.1 Two-thirds of patients responded that the annual physical examination was necessary in addition to regular primary care.2
The Preventive Care Checklist Form incorporates recommendations from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) and recommendations from other sources where the Task Force guidelines are not up-to-date or are lacking. Grade-A (good evidence to include) or grade-B (fair evidence to include) recommendations are delineated by bold and italic text, respectively. Recommendations from other guidelines are in plain text. Practice-relevant components, such as functional inquiry and physical examination, are also included in the form. The form was validated in a prospective cluster randomized controlled trial. Results indicated that using the forms improved the number of evidence-based preventive maneuvers delivered per patient by a 22.8% absolute increase and 46.6% relative increase.3 This means that physicians who used the forms provided almost 50% more recommended preventive services to patients than those who did not use them. Seventy-seven percent of physicians who used the form in the trial indicated they would continue to use it in routine practice.4
The Preventive Care Checklist Form was endorsed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) in June 2004. It is available from the CFPC website,5 with separate forms for men and women, in English and in French. There is also an accompanying explanation sheet. The forms are used in family physicians’ offices across the country in hard copy or as part of an electronic medical record.
In order to keep the Preventive Care Checklist Form up-to-date, relevant, and evidence-based, it is necessary that it be periodically updated. In January 2007, the forms were updated with the most recent evidence and re-endorsed through a peer-review process by the CFPC.
Method
Articles were sought through an Ovid MEDLINE search using the key words mass screening, preventive medicine, adult complete health assessment, and screening guidelines. These results were then limited to Canadian articles published after 2003. As this yielded too few results, specific articles were sought using search terms pertinent to the adult complete health checkup, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cervical cancer screening. We also used additional secondary sources, such as articles from the CTFPHC, the Canadian Cancer Society, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, and the Canadian Medical Association Infobase.
Result
After reviewing all the aforementioned publications, the Preventive Care Checklist Form was updated to reflect current levels of evidence (Table 16–19). The changes based on the CTFPHC recommendations include screening for depression, universal influenza vaccination, screening for diabetes in individuals with hypertension and hyperlipidemia, calcium and vitamin D supplementation for women, and bone density assessment for women 65 years of age and older and those at risk for osteoporosis. The HIV recommendation for high-risk individuals, omitted from the last iteration of the form, has been included. The hormone replacement therapy recommendation has been removed based on current recommendations.
Updated 2007 recommendations included in the Preventive Care Checklist Form©
Recommendations where the CTFPHC recommendations were lacking or not up-to-date are also presented in Table 16–19 and explained below.
Acellular pertussis vaccine
Pertussis is the least well-controlled vaccine-preventable illness.20,21 The incidence of pertussis has increased since 1990, with the highest rate of increase seen in adults and adolescents. The increase is attributed to waning immunity.20 The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends the administration of a single dose of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine to all adults in place of a tetanus-diphtheria booster.14,22
Human papillomavirus vaccine
There is a well-established causal relationship between cervical cancer and infection by multiple types of human papillomavirus.23,24 The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended the human papillomavirus vaccine for girls aged 9 to 13 years.
The recommendation also states that female populations between 14 and 26 years of age can benefit from the vaccine, even if they are or have been sexually active.19
Risk factor stratification for obesity
The body mass index is often used to indicate total fat content. The waist-to-hip ratio and the waist circumference, on the other hand, are considered measures of central or abdominal obesity, which can be a better indicator of obesity-related diseases.11 A high waist-to-hip ratio is defined as greater than 1.0 in men and greater than 0.85 in women,11 and has been shown to be strongly associated with the risk of myocardial infarction.25 Waist circumference, defined as the circumference measured at the midpoint between the lower border of the rib cage and the iliac crest, is a more practical method to assess abdominal obesity.11 Measurements greater than 102 cm (40 in) for men and 88 cm (35 in) for women are considered high-risk indicators for diabetes, coronary artery disease, and dyslipidemia.26 Health Canada has recommended waist circumference as further stratification of risk in both men and women with a body mass index between 18.5 and 34.9.10,26
Colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening
Colonoscopy has been advocated by some as an alternate screening modality for colorectal cancer27 and some primary care practitioners appear to prefer it.28,29 Colonoscopy has been shown to detect advanced neoplasia, which can be been missed with sigmoidoscopy alone in asymptomatic men and women.30,31 In the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study, asymptomatic adults from 50 to 75 years of age from 13 centres were screened.32 Participants were screened for advanced neoplasia (defined as an adenoma 10 mm or greater, a villous adenoma, an adenoma with high-grade dysplasia, or invasive cancer), with rehydrated stool specimens collected on 3 consecutive days followed by a colonoscopy. Sigmoidoscopy was defined as the examination of the rectum and sigmoid during colonoscopy. A subgroup analysis of the 2885 participants who returned the specimens for fecal occult blood testing showed that a colonoscopy can increase the detection rate of colorectal cancer by 24% when compared with the combination of one-time fecal occult blood testing and sigmoidoscopy.32
Both the CTFPHC and the United States Preventive Services Task Force state there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against using colonoscopy as a screening test for colorectal cancer.33,34 The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology recommends having a colonoscopy every 10 years as a viable screening option for individuals 50 years of age and older who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. In individuals with a family history of adenomatous polyps or colorectal cancer (in a first-degree relative over the age of 60 or 2 or more second-degree relatives), colonoscopy is an option beginning at age 40. If those relatives are younger than 60, a colonoscopic screening is recommended every 5 years beginning either at age 40 or 10 years before the age of the youngest case.12
Hepatitis B screening
Hepatitis B virus infection has declined in incidence because of the increased use of the hepatitis B vaccine. It has virtually disappeared in cohorts offered universal vaccination; however, a substantial proportion of the population is still at high risk for acquiring the infection.14 This includes those who have high-risk sexual activity or unprotected sex, such as individuals having unprotected sex with new partners or those who have had more than 1 sexual partner in the past 6 months, individuals with a history of sexually transmitted infections, and men having sex with men. High-risk groups should be screened for hepatitis B infection15 as part of a sexually transmitted disease test, which includes testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, and syphilis.
Vitamin D to decrease cancer
When the 2007 updates were being finalized, the Canadian Cancer Society announced its recommendation for increased vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of cancer. This recommendation has not been included in the Preventive Care Checklist Form because the clinically important level of vitamin D, as it relates to cancer while preventing toxicity, requires further investigation.35
Conclusion
Before the Preventive Care Checklist Form there was no standardized evidence-based form that family physicians in Canada could use for a complete health checkup for adults. In order to remain relevant, the form must be regularly updated to incorporate new evidence for or against certain preventive health maneuvers. The Preventive Care Checklist Form was first endorsed by the CFPC in 2004 and was recently updated in 2007 using relevant literature. The 2007 form provides family physicians with an updated, user-friendly tool to implement best practices in preventive health care. It is meant to be used during complete health checkups for adults who are at average risk. Although the form is comprehensive, physicians should use their discretion and clinical knowledge to determine what maneuvers are required for individual patients.
Footnotes
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Competing interests
None declared
- Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada
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