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PREVENTIVE CARE
Prevention of health problems and
promotion of optimal physical and emotional functioning
are important components of clinical
interactions. In 2000, females made 488 million office
visits and males made 335 million. Of the visits made by
women,
21.2 percent were made for preventive, prenatal, and other
non-illness care. Other office visits made were for acute
problems, chronic illness, or visits related to surgery
or injury.
Preventive care often takes the form of counseling
and educational services provided during office visits.
In
2000, the most
common type of counseling or educational services provided
or ordered for females was that related to diet (15.4
percent) and exercise (9.8 percent). Prenatal instruction
was the
third most common service ordered, provided during 3.8
percent of office visits. Counseling and educational
services related
to stress management, mental health, and tobacco use
were provided in less than 3 percent of office visits.
In 2003, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force revised
their recommendations for screening for cervical cancer.
Pap smears should begin three years after sexual activity
begins, or at the age of 21, whichever comes first.
Screening should be performed at least every 3 years for
women,
until the age of 65. After age 65, women who have had
normal
Pap smears and are not otherwise at increased risk
for cervical
cancer need not be screened. The Task Force also recommends
that all women aged 40 and older have a screening mammogram
every 1 to 2 years to detect breast cancer. Although
more women adhered to the recommendations for Pap smears
than
mammograms in 2001, the majority of women of all racial
and ethnic groups received a Pap smear within the past
3 years
and a mammogram within the past 2 years. Non-Hispanic
Black women had the highest proportion reporting receipt
of a
Pap smear in the past 3 years (85.3 percent) and non-Hispanic
White women had the highest proportion reporting receipt
of a mammogram in the past 2 years (72.1 percent).
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