Electronic reminders are a simple EMR addition that can provide evidence -based education while improving adherence rates with preventive health screening measures
Abstract : The 2014 United States Preventive Services Task Force systematic review found abdominal aortic aneurysm ( AAA ) screening decreased related mortality by close to half .
Despite the simplicity of screening , research suggests poor adherence to the recommended AAA screening guidelines .
The aneurysm detection and management study screening program: validation cohort and final results. Aneurysm Detection and Management Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Investigators.
BACKGROUND We previously reported the prevalence and associations of abdominal aortic aneurysm ( AAA ) in 73451 veterans aged 50 to 79 years who underwent ultrasound screening .  OBJECTIVE To underst and the prevalence of and principal positive and negative risk factors for AAA , and to assess reproducibility of our previous findings . METHODS In the new cohort of veterans undergoing screening , 52 745 subjects aged 50 to 79 without history of AAA underwent successful ultrasound screening for AAA  , after completing a question naire on demographics and potential risk factors . RESULTS We detected AAA of 4.0 cm or larger in 613 participants ( 1.2 % ; compared with 1.4 % in the earlier cohort ) . The direction and magnitude of the important associations reported in the first cohort were confirmed . Respective odds ratios for the major associations with AAA for the second and for the combined cohorts were as follows : 1.81 and 1.71 for age ( per 7 years ) , 0.12 and 0 . 18 for female sex , 0.59 and 0.53 for black race , 1.94 and 1.94 for family history of AAA , 4.45 and 5.07 for smoking , 0.50 and 0.52 for diabetes , and 1.60 and 1.66 for atherosclerotic diseases . The excess prevalence associated with smoking accounted for 75 % of all AAAs of 4.0 cm or larger in the total population of 126 196 . Associations for AAA of 3.0 to 3.9 cm were similar but tended to be somewhat weaker . CONCLUSIONS Our findings confirm our previous cohort findings . Age , smoking , family history of AAA , and atherosclerotic diseases remained the principal positive associations with AAA , and female sex , diabetes , and black race remained the principal negative associations
Electronic reminders are a simple EMR addition that can provide evidence -based education while improving adherence rates with preventive health screening measures
Abstract : The 2014 United States Preventive Services Task Force systematic review found abdominal aortic aneurysm ( AAA ) screening decreased related mortality by close to half .
Despite the simplicity of screening , research suggests poor adherence to the recommended AAA screening guidelines .