Screening for health: a preventive approach.

There still exists a strong bias against health screening amongst the medical profession. The strongest objections stem from the belief that the costs are prohibitive, and that the yield of practical information is not worth the effort. This is certainly open to debate. Screening, however, is a very useful preventive tool and the information which is stored in computers reveals a goldmine of important epidemiological data. Coordinated examination of large groups of the population reduces the possibility of a non-representative sample, and allows for health patterns and disease trends to become manifest. The benefits to the individual become obvious once the potential of doctor to patient education held in the screening information is disseminated appropriately and effectively.