Abstract:
There are sound clinical and epidemiological reasons to promote and emphasize early
detection efforts and disease prevention services. A large body of scientific literature
supports the notion that detection and intervention early in the course of many diseases
is beneficial both to the afflicted individual and to society at large. Several publications
deal with the evaluation of multiphasic screening examinations (MSE) as a tool for
simultaneous early detection and prevention of multiple risk factors and various diseases.
Usually, this technology is evaluated based on data from a single (cross-sectional)
comprehensive screening study. However, frequently MSE are performed periodically,
resulting in repeated test results of the same individuals. The health impact of such
repeated (longitudinal) MSE has not been studied extensively. Similarly, many of the
unique theoretical, technical, and epidemiological features characteristic of consecutive
(periodical) comprehensive screening examinations are not well-documented. The purpose
of this study was to compare the test results of two MSE, performed 3.5 years apart,
in order to demonstrate certain characteristics of multiphasic health testing (MHT)
technology related to repeated (longitudinal) multiphasic examination of the same
individuals.
Key-words
Multiphasic Health Testing - Screening - Longitudinal Studies
