BACKGROUND Universal newborn hearing screening was implemented worldwide largely on modeled, not measured, long-term benefits. Comparative quantification of population benefits would justify its high cost. METHODS Natural experiment comparing 3 population approaches to detecting bilateral congenital hearing loss (>25 dB, better ear) in Australian states with similar demographics and services:...

BACKGROUND Adoption of universal HIV screening has been low despite national recommendations. OBJECTIVE To describe the barriers and facilitators to adoption of universal HIV screening in a low-prevalence setting. DESIGN Qualitative, thematic analysis of focus group discussions among internal medicine residents who introduced universal HIV screening into their primary care practice in Madis...

Importance Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is a major cause of childhood deafness. Most cCMV infections are not diagnosed without newborn screening, resulting in missed opportunities for directed care. Objective To estimate the cost-effectiveness of universal and targeted newborn cCMV screening programs compared with no cCMV screening. Design, Setting, and Participants Models we...

BACKGROUND In the United States, about 70% of 2.9-3.7 million people with hepatitis C (HCV) are unaware of their infection. Although universal screening might be a cost-effective way to identify infections, prevent morbidity, and reduce transmission, few efforts have been made to determine patient opinions about new approaches to screening. METHODS We surveyed 200 patients in August 2010 at f...

Background We previously conducted an anonymous survey on universal screening for uterine cervical cancer (UCC), genital Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and bacterial vaginosis (BV) among pregnant women in Hokkaido (Japan) in 2004, and the screening rates were 87.5% (49/56), 87.5% (40/56), and 57.1% (32/56), respectively. According to the Japanese guidelines for obstetric practice published in 2008...

BACKGROUND Universal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening remains low in many clinical practices despite published guidelines recommending screening for all patients between ages 13-65. Electronic clinical decision support tools have improved screening rates for many chronic diseases. We designed a quality improvement project to improve the rate of universal HIV screening of adult patie...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare the cost effectiveness of the current Irish programme of universal BCG vaccination of infants versus a programme which considered selectively vaccinating high risk infants using decision analytical modelling. METHODS The efficacy of the BCG vaccine was re-evaluated to inform a decision analytical model constructed to follow a birth cohort of vac...

OBJECTIVE To reduce prevalence of anaemia in low-income postpartum women. DESIGN A randomised, non-blind clinical trial was conducted among 959 low-income, postpartum women in eleven clinics in Mississippi. The clinics were randomised to one of three treatment groups: (i) selective anaemia screening of high-risk women as recommended currently (control); (ii) universal anaemia screening and tr...