USPSTF releases annual clinical preventive services report to Congress

Today, the USPSTF published its sixth annual report to Congress on high-priority evidence gaps for clinical preventive services.  

In the report, the USPSTF identified six recent topics where it was unable to make a clinical recommendation due to a lack of sufficient current evidence:

• Autism spectrum disorder screening in young children;
• chlamydia and gonorrhea screening in men;
• tobacco smoking cessation in adults;
• cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention with vitamin supplementation;
• cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer prevention with aspirin; and
• skin cancer screening in adults.

These areas deserve further research to help fill the gaps and provide more suitable evidence, so that new, important recommendations can be implemented to improve the health of Americans, the USPSTF wrote.

The task force also identified three critical evidence gaps that prevented it from making recommendations for specific populations or age groups:

• Breast cancer screening in African American women;
• cervical cancer screening in Hispanic and African American women; and
• colorectal cancer screening in African Americans and American Indians/Alaska Natives.

USPSTF hopes that this report will encourage investigators to focus their research efforts in these priority areas to uncover new knowledge and address these health issues.