Screening services
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Follow the links below to find trusted information about screening services.
Last reviewed: May 2018
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BreastScreenNT bus - NT.GOV.AU
The BreastScreenNT bus gives free breast screening services to women in regional and remote communities.
Read more on NT Health website
Baby and child screening and assessment clinics - NT.GOV.AU
The Child Health Service runs health and development screening and assessments for your baby and child.
Read more on NT Health website
Support for new parents - NT.GOV.AU
Support groups, useful websites, health services for new parents and general information for mothers-to-be
Read more on NT Health website
International Diagnostic Guidelines
In Australia there are currently no nationally recognised clinical guidelines for the screening and diagnosis of FASD. However, the Australian FASD Collaboration has developed a national diagnostic instrument for FASD. It is hoped that this will be tested in 2013-14. As part of this process clinical guidelines will be developed for its use. For more information about diagnosis in Australia go to What is FASD?
Read more on NOFASD - National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder website
Pregnancy screening and testing - NT.GOV.AU
Your first doctor visit, scheduled pregnancy check-ups, tests, ultrasounds and genetic screening.
Read more on NT Health website
Recommended health checks :: SA Health
See your doctor for a regular health check even if you are currently feeling fit and healthy
Read more on SA Health website
Parenting and Child Health - Health Topics - Neonatal screening test
Babies born in Australia have a blood test taken when they areabout 48 hours old. This test is the Neonatal Screening Test, sometimes called the 'Guthrie' test, or 'heel prick' test. The test can tell if a baby has one of many rare but serious health problems before any harm is done and even before there are signs that there is a health problem.
Read more on Women's and Children's Health Network website
Breast cancer - NT.GOV.AU
Screening tests, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and services for breast cancer.
Read more on NT Health website
Neonatal screening test
Information on neonatal newborn screening test (also known as heel prick test) including how it is done, what is screened for, plus links to trusted resources.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Support - Cancer Council Australia
Find support services for cancer patients, people living with cancer, their families and carers.
Read more on Cancer Council Australia website
Top results
Screening and case finding instruments for depression | Cochrane
The use of depression screening or case finding instruments has little or no impact on the recognition, management or outcome of depression in primary care or the general hospital.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Vision screening of older drivers to prevent road traffic injuries and deaths | Cochrane
Good vision is critical for safe driving performance.Because vision declines with age, and the percentage of older adults in the population is increasing, it has become more important to consider the vision screening requirements for older adults when designing evidence-based traffic safety policy. Mandatory vision screening for the issue or renewal of a driver's licence helps to ensure that older drivers are fit to safely operate vehicles.To date, there has been no trial to demonstrate the impact of vision screening on the prevention of older driver-related crashes. However, given the importance of good vision for safe driving, vision testing remains a relevant issue for all licensed drivers.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Community screening for visual impairment in the elderly | Cochrane
Visual impairment is common among older people and is associated with falls and reduced quality of life. Visual problems in older people are often not reported to medical services. Screening has been recommended because vision could be improved by encouraging treatment in the majority of older people with impaired vision. The review found five studies in which vision was tested as part of a broader screening assessment. No improvement in vision was seen two to four years after screening compared to elderly people who were not screened. This may be due to the lack of a clear plan of intervention for visual problems found on screening. In another study, the risk of having visual impairment in either eye was similar with universal and targeted screening, three to five years after screening.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Screening for oesophageal cancer | Cochrane
Oesophageal cancer is a common cause of cancer related death in the world. The prognosis in the advanced stages is unfavourable, but the early oesophageal cancers are asymptomatic and curable, and usually go undetected until they have spread beyond the oesophageal wall. Endoscopy with iodine staining or cytologic examination are two common screening tests for early oesophageal cancer. These screening tests were started in the 1970s, but the true benefit is inconsistent and is uncertain due to lead-time bias, which is the amount of time by which the diagnosis is advanced by the screening procedure; and length-time bias, where screening is more likely to detect slow-growing disease rather than altering the person's duration of life. This review intended to determine the efficacy of the two screening tests for oesophageal cancer. We identified 3482 studies but none were RCTs of screening. Several non-comparative studies showed that the screening tests may increase the incidence of reported oesophageal cancer and improve the survival results after a screening test, but these results could indicate bias rather than a true causative effect. Therefore, there is a strong need for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), especially long-term RCTs, to determine the efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and any adverse effects of screening for oesophageal cancer.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
First Trimester Screening
This pathway provides guidance on the screening of pregnant patients to detect fetal abnormalities in early pregnancy.
Read more on Diagnostic Imaging Pathways website
Screening for breast cancer with mammography | Cochrane
Screening with mammography uses X-ray imaging to find breast cancer before a lump can be felt. The goal is to treat cancer earlier, when a cure is more likely. The review includes seven trials that involved 600,000 women in the age range 39 to 74 years who were randomly assigned to receive screening mammograms or not. The studies which provided the most reliable information showed that screening did not reduce breast cancer mortality. Studies that were potentially more biased (less carefully done) found that screening reduced breast cancer mortality. However, screening will result in some women getting a cancer diagnosis even though their cancer would not have led to death or sickness. Currently, it is not possible to tell which women these are, and they are therefore likely to have breasts or lumps removed and to receive radiotherapy unnecessarily. If we assume that screening reduces breast cancer mortality by 15% after 13 years of follow-up and that overdiagnosis and overtreatment is at 30%, it means that for every 2000 women invited for screening throughout 10 years, one will avoid dying of breast cancer and 10 healthy women, who would not have been diagnosed if there had not been screening, will be treated unnecessarily. Furthermore, more than 200 women will experience important psychological distress including anxiety and uncertainty for years because of false positive findings.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Screening for nasopharyngeal cancer | Cochrane
Does screening individuals without symptoms using an Epstein-Barr virus blood test or nasopharyngoscopy (or both) reduce the mortality associated with nasopharyngeal cancer?
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Screening for testicular cancer | Cochrane
Testicular cancer commonly affects men aged between 20 and 35 years. It accounts up to 2% of cancers diagnosed in men, although the lifetime risk of mortality is less than 1%. Screening for testicular cancer is commonly performed by physician, who performs a physical examination, or self-examination by the patient. However, there is little evidence that documents the accuracy of such examinations. This review identified that no randomised controlled trials have been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of screening for testicular cancer. In the absence of high quality evidence, male patients with an increased risk of developing testicular cancer should be informed of the potential benefits and harms associated with screening.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Screening newborn babies for cystic fibrosis | Cochrane
In people with cystic fibrosis lung disease and malnutrition occur very early in life. These complications are suited to early treatment. Newborn screening may therefore improve outcomes for people with cystic fibrosis. We aimed to find out whether newborn screening prevents or reduces organ damage and improves clinical outcomes in people with CF without unacceptable adverse effects. This review includes two trials with 1,124,483 babies (210 with cystic fibrosis). The trials compared newborn screening to clinical diagnosis. We were only able to analyse data from one of the trials. This trial showed that severe malnutrition was less common among screened babies. Screened babies had better chest radiograph scores at diagnosis, but these scores became worse over time. The screened babies become colonised with Pseudomonas aeruginosa earlier. Costs for screening were less than costs for traditional diagnosis.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Screening for lung cancer | Cochrane
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the western world. It takes about 20 years to develop and cigarette smoking is a known cause. Most lung cancers are not found early in the development of the disease. Regular screening is offered to those considered to be at high risk of contracting the disease. Trials were made of early detection methods such as the testing of sputum, x-ray and computed tomography (CT) scanning of the chest to see whether they made a difference to the number of people who were treated by surgery and the number of people who died as a result of the disease. This review examined the evidence from nine trials (with a total of 453,965 participants) and found that early screening with chest X-ray or sputum testing does not reduce the number of people who die from lung cancer. Screening with low-dose chest CT was found in one large trial to reduce the number of people who die from lung cancer but this trial only included very high-risk smokers and ex-smokers. CT screening however is associated with a high number of false positive results and there are also some people who have lung cancer detected and treated but in whom this cancer may not have progressed to cause death in their lifetime, even in the absence of treatment (referred to as overdiagnosis). More research is needed about the relative harms and benefits of CT screening in individuals at lower risk for lung cancer.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
