preventive medicine: Definition from Answers.com

Preventive medicine is a specialty of medicine practiced by physicians devoted to health promotion and disease prevention. Physicians with expertise in preventive medicine are typically interested in health problems that have a significant impact on specific populations, such as those with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease, a highly prevalent condition. Conversely, a disease may become the focus of preventive medicine despite its low prevalence because it causes significant illness, disability, and death (e.g., a disease with a high case-fatality rate such as infection with the Ebola virus). Other health problems important to preventive medicine are those that disproportionately affect one narrow segment of a population, such as unintended pregnancies among urban adolescents.

Physicians who practice preventive medicine may work with individual patients in the delivery of clinical preventive services, or they may serve a defined population. In either case, the goal is to reduce the risk factors of the patient or the population that contribute to premature morbidity and mortality. Traditionally, in the United States, the medical and public health communities have assessed the diseases that cause the most mortality and have intervened to reduce their impact. Heart disease and cancers of all types remain leading causes of premature mortality. Recently, the emphasis has shifted from concentrating on diseases that are highly prevalent to a focus on the actual behaviors that cause these conditions. By approaching threats to good health in this way, behaviors such as smoking, unsafe sexual practices, dietary habits, and lack of exercise emerge as vitally important in determining disease or its absence. Preventive-medicine physicians embrace this approach to shape intervention strategies to target behaviors that cause disease.

The American Board of Medical Specialties recognizes preventive medicine as one of the twenty-four distinct medical specialties. Since 1950, the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) has certified over 7,800 physicians as specialists in preventive medicine. Of the living diplomates (physicians board certified by ABPM) in 1999, 2,752 were in public health/general preventive medicine, 2,442 were in occupational medicine, and 897 were in aerospace medicine. The American Medical Association database on physicians who designate themselves as preventive-medicine specialists reveals a decline in this specialty practice from 2.3 percent of all United States physicians in 1970 to 0.9 percent in 1997; the greatest decline has been in the area of public health and general preventive medicine. Although the needs of the public health work force have not been fully elucidated, and many factors determine physician specialty choice, the following contribute to declining participation in the field: the lack of awareness of the field of preventive medicine, the absence of requirements for certification in many public health and general preventive medicine positions, and inadequate funding during residency training. Despite their small numbers, experts in the field, as well as the collective action of professional societies that bring preventive-medicine specialists together, have been in the forefront among all medical specialties in clearly defining the knowledge and skills needed to master and the professional competencies to be used as the basis for residency training in preventive medicine.

Physicians who become diplomats of the American Board of Preventive Medicine are uniquely trained in both clinical and population-based medicine. Residency training requires a minimum of one year of training in an accredited clinical program, an academic year that almost always leads to a master's degree in public health (M.P.H.), and a practicum year that provides trainees with experience in the application of the knowledge and skills of preventive medicine in diverse settings.

The didactic component of preventive-medicine training provides the core knowledge and skills that encompass the major public health disciplines. The areas of public health in which a preventive-medicine physician must become competent are epidemiology; biostatistics; environmental and occupational health; planning, administration, and evaluation of health services; the behavioral aspects of health and disease; and the practice of preventive medicine in clinical settings. The first five areas represent the core of public health and are required of M.P.H. programs for certification by the Council on Education in Public Health. Epidemiolgy and biostatistics are the fields that define, describe, and quantify diseases and disease patterns; environmental and occupational health and the behavioral sciences cover major determinants of whether diseases flourish, diminish, or exist at all in populations; and planning, administration, and evaluation of health services encompass the competencies needed by programs and health care systems to address specific diseases and/or population-based health programs and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Preventive medicine physicians must be skilled in the clinical practice of health promotion and disease prevention. They must also understand evidence-based medicine in order to know what screening tests and interventions are appropriate for their patients. Evidence-based medicine is a method for determining the content of clinical care that involves evaluating the scientific evidence supporting a particular diagnostic test or therapy and deciding whether the evidence is sufficient to establish the efficacy and effectiveness of an intervention. Preventive medicine physicians must have a good knowledge of this approach to medicine and must be able to incorporate the findings in their practices in order to evaluate their patients and provide appropriate counseling, testing, and preventive therapy.

Preventive medicine physicians have numerous employment opportunities. Many primarily practice population-based medicine and work for local, state, federal, or international health departments; the military; or large employers such as managed care organizations. Consulting opportunities exist for specialists in epidemiology; disease management systems; and program development, implementation, and evaluation. Preventive-medicine physicians also teach and conduct research in schools of public health and medicine and deliver direct patient care.

Bibliography

Lane, D. S. (2000). "A Threat to the Public Health Workforce: Evidence from Trends in Preventive Medicine Certification and Training." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 18(1):87–96.

McGinnis, J. M., and Foege, W. H. (1993). "Actual Causes of Death in the United States." Journal of the American Medical Association 270(18):2207–12.

Woolf, S. H.; Jonas, S.; and Lawrence, R. S., eds. (1996). Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice. Baltimore, MD: William and Wilkins.

— MIRIAM ALEXANDER; ROBERT S. LAWRENCE

Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases,^[1] (or injuries) rather than curing them or treating their symptoms. The term contrasts in method with curative and palliative medicine, and in scope with public health methods (which work at the level of population health rather than individual health).

Contents

1 Levels
2 Universal, selective, and indicated
3 Professionals
4 Prophylaxis
- 4.1 Examples
5 Limitations
6 Leading cause of preventable death
7 See also
8 References
- 8.1 Footnotes
- 8.2 Notations
9 External links

Levels

Preventive medicine strategies are typically described as taking place at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary prevention levels. In addition, the term primal prevention has been used to describe all measures taken to ensure fetal well-being and prevent any long-term health consequences from gestational history and/or disease.^[2] The rationale for such efforts is the evidence demonstrating the link between fetal well-being, or "primal health," and adult health.^[3]^[4] Primal prevention strategies typically focus on providing future parents with: education regarding the consequences of epigenetic influences on their child,^[5] sufficient leave time for both parents, and financial support if required. This includes parenting in infancy as well.

Simple examples of preventive medicine include hand washing, breastfeeding, and immunizations. Preventive care may include examinations and screening tests tailored to an individual's age, health, and family history. For example, a person with a family history of certain cancers or other diseases would begin screening at an earlier age and/or more frequently than those with no such family history. On the other side of preventive medicine, some nonprofit organizations, such as the Northern California Cancer Center, apply epidemiologic research towards finding ways to prevent diseases.

			absent	present
Prevention levels^[6]			Doctor’s side
			Disease
Patient’s side	Illness	absent	Primary prevention illness absent disease absent	Secondary prevention illness absent disease present
Patient’s side	Illness	present	Quaternary prevention illness present disease absent	Tertiary prevention illness present disease present

Level	Definition
Primary prevention	Methods to avoid occurrence of disease.^[7] Most population-based health promotion efforts are of this type.
Secondary prevention	Methods to diagnose and treat extant disease in early stages before it causes significant morbidity.^[8]
Tertiary prevention	Methods to reduce negative impact of extant disease by restoring function and reducing disease-related complications.^[9]
Quaternary prevention	Methods to mitigate or avoid results of unnecessary or excessive interventions in the health system.^[10]

Universal, selective, and indicated

Gordon (1987) in the area of disease prevention,^[11] and later Kumpfer and Baxley in the area of substance use^[12] proposed a three-tiered preventive intervention classification system: universal, selective, and indicated prevention. Amongst others, this typology has gained favour and is used by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the NIDA and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Tier	Definition
Universal prevention	Involves whole population (nation, local community, school, district) and aims to prevent or delay the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. All individuals, without screening, are provided with information and skills needed to prevent the problem.
Selective prevention	Involves groups whose risk of developing problems of alcohol abuse or dependence is above average. Subgroups may be distinguished by traits such as age, gender, family history, or economic status. For example, drug campaigns in recreational settings.
Indicated prevention	Involves a screening process, and aims to identify individuals who exhibit early signs of substance abuse and other problem behaviours. Identifiers may include falling grades among students, known problem consumption or conduct disorders, alienation from parents, school, and positive peer groups etc.

Outside the scope of this three-tier model is environmental prevention. Environmental prevention approaches are typically managed at the regulatory or community level and focus on ways to deter drug consumption. Prohibition and bans (e.g. on smoking, alcohol advertising) may be viewed as the ultimate environmental restriction. However, in practice, environmental preventions programs embrace various initiatives at the macro and micro level, from government monopolies for alcohol sales through roadside sobriety or drug tests, worker/pupil/student drug testing, increased policing in sensitive settings (near schools, at rock festivals), and legislative guidelines aimed at precipitating punishments (warnings, penalties, fines).

Professionals

Professionals involved in the public health aspect of this practice may be involved in entomology, pest control, and public health inspections. Public health inspections can include recreational waters, swimming pools, beaches, food preparation and serving, and industrial hygiene inspections and surveys.

In the United States, preventive medicine is a medical specialty, one of the 24 recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). It encompasses three areas of specialization:

General preventive medicine and public health
Aerospace medicine
Occupational medicine

To become board-certified in one of the preventive medicine areas of specialization, a licensed U.S. physician (M.D. or D.O.) must successfully complete a preventive medicine medical residency program following a one-year internship. Following that, the physician must complete a year of practice in that special area and pass the preventive medicine board examination. The residency program is at least two years in length and includes completion of a master's degree in public health (MPH) or equivalent. The board exam takes a full day: the morning session concentrates on general preventive medicine questions, while the afternoon session concentrates on the one of the three areas of specialization that the applicant has studied.

In addition, there are two subspecialty areas of certification:

Medical toxicology (MT)
Undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB), formerly "undersea medicine"

These certifications require sitting for an examination following successful completion of an MT or UHB fellowship and prior board certification in one of the 24 ABMS-recognized specialties.

Prophylaxis

Prophylaxis (Greek "προφυλάσσω" to guard or prevent beforehand) is any medical or public health procedure whose purpose is to prevent, rather than treat or cure a disease. In general terms, prophylactic measures are divided between primary prophylaxis (to prevent the development of a disease) and secondary prophylaxis (whereby the disease has already developed and the patient is protected against worsening of this process).

Examples

Some specific examples of prophylaxis include:

Many vaccines are prophylactic, vaccines such as polio vaccine, smallpox vaccine, measles vaccine, mumps vaccine and others have greatly reduced many childhood diseases; HPV vaccines prevent certain cancers; influenza vaccine.^[13]
Birth control methods are used to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Condoms, for instance, are sometimes euphemistically referred to as "prophylactics" because of their use to prevent pregnancy as well as the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.
Daily and moderate physical exercise in various forms can be called prophylactic because it can maintain or improve one's health. Cycling for transport appears to very significantly improve health by reducing risk of heart diseases, various cancers, muscular- and skeletal diseases, and overall mortality.^[14]
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day may be prophylactic. It may reduce the risk of heart disease ^[15].
Fluoride therapy and tooth cleaning, either at home or by a professional, are parts of dental prophylaxis or oral prophylaxis.

Antibiotics are sometimes used prophylactically: For example, during the 2001 anthrax attacks scare in the United States, patients believed to be exposed were given ciprofloxacin. In similar manner, the use of antibiotic ointments on burns and other wounds is prophylactic. Antibiotics are also given prophylactically just before some medical procedures such as pacemaker insertion.^[16]
Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) may, with caution, be an example of a chronic migraine preventive (see amitriptyline and migraines' prevention by medicine).
Antimalarials such as chloroquine and mefloquine are used both in treatment and as prophylaxis by visitors to countries where malaria is endemic to prevent the development of the parasitic Plasmodium, which cause malaria.
Low-molecular-weight heparin is used as a prophylaxis in hospital patients, as they are at risk for several forms of thrombosis due to their immobilisation.
Risk reducing or prophylactic mastectomies may be carried out for carriers of the BRCA mutation gene to minimise the risk of developing breast cancer.
Early and exclusive breastfeeding provides immunological protection against infectious diseases and well as reduced risk of chronic diseases for both mother and child.^[17]
Polypill for prevention of e.g. cardiovascular disease.
Potassium iodide is used prophylactically to protect the thyroid gland from absorbing inhaled or ingested radioactive iodine, which may lead to the development of thyroid cancer; radioactive iodine may be released into the environment in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant, or the detonation of a nuclear explosive (see thyroid protection due to nuclear accidents and emergencies).
Prophylaxis may be administered as oral medication. Oral prophylaxis includes: PEP, nPEP, or PrEP. PEP stands for post-exposure prophylaxis used in an occupational setting e.g., to prevent the spread of HIV or Hepatitis C from patient to staff following an accidental needlestick. nPEP is non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis. nPEP may be used in a sexual or injection exposure to HIV, hepatitis, or other infectious agents; for example, during intercourse, if the condom breaks and one partner is HIV-positive, nPEP will help to decrease the probability that the HIV-negative partner becomes infected with HIV. (An nPEP is sometimes known as a PEPse - i.e. post-exposure prophylaxis sexual encounter.) PrEP is a measure taken daily (before, during, and after) possible exposure; for example, by a person who inconsistently uses condoms during sex with a partner who may have an HIV infection.

Limitations

Since preventive medicine deals with healthy individuals or populations the costs and potential harms from interventions need even more careful examination than in treatment. For an intervention to be applied widely it generally needs to be affordable and highly cost effective.

For instance, intrauterine devices (IUD) are highly effective and highly cost effective contraceptives, however where universal health care is not available the initial cost may be a barrier.^[18] IUDs work for several years (3 to 7 or more) and cost less over a year or two's time than most other reversible contraceptive methods.^[19] They are also highly cost effective, saving health insurers and the public significant costs in unwanted pregnancies.^[19] Making contraceptives available with no up front cost is one way to increase usage, improving health and saving money.^[20]

Preventive solutions may be less profitable and therefore less attractive to makers and marketers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Birth control pills which are taken every day and may take in a thousand dollars over ten years may generate more profits than an IUD, which despite a huge initial markup only generates a few hundred dollars over the same period.^[18]

Leading cause of preventable death

Main article: List of preventable causes of death

Leading causes of preventable death worldwide as of the year 2001.^[21]

Cause	Deaths caused (millions per year)
Hypertension	7.8
Smoking	5.0
High cholesterol	3.9
Malnutrition	3.8
Sexually transmitted infections	3.0
Poor diet	2.8
Overweight and obesity	2.5
Physical inactivity	2.0
Alcohol	1.9
Indoor air pollution from solid fuels	1.8
Unsafe water and poor sanitation	1.6

Main article: List of preventable causes of death in children

Leading preventive interventions that reduce deaths in children 0–5 years old worldwide, by percent indicated.^[22]

Intervention	Percent of all child deaths preventable
Breastfeeding	13
Insecticide-treated materials	7
Complementary feeding	6
Zinc	4
Clean delivery	4
Hib vaccine	4
Water, sanitation, hygiene	3
Antenatal steroids	3
Newborn temperature management	2
Vitamin A	2
Tetanus toxoid	2
Nevirapine and replacement feeding	2
Antibiotics for premature rupture of membranes	1
Measles vaccine	1
Antimalarial intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy	<1%

Leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States in the year 2000.^[23]

Cause	Deaths caused	% of all deaths
Tobacco smoking	435,000	18.1
Poor diet and physical inactivity	365,000	15.2
Alcohol consumption	85,000	3.5
Infectious diseases	75,000	3.1
Toxicants	55,000	2.3
Traffic collisions	43,000	1.8
Firearm incidents	29,000	1.2
Sexually transmitted infections	20,000	0.8
Drug abuse	17,000	0.7

References

Footnotes

^ MeSH Preventive+Medicine
^ Primal Research Centre, London
^ Primal Health Research Databank
^ Effect of In Utero and Early-Life Conditions on Adult Health and Disease, by P.D.Gluckman et al., N ENGL J MED 359;1
^ Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives, by Annie Murphy Paul, Free Press, september 2010
^ Kuehlein T, Sghedoni D, Visentin G, Gérvas J, Jamoule M. Quaternary prevention: a task of the general practitioner. PrimaryCare. 2010; 10(18):350-4.
^ MeSH Primary+Prevention
^ MeSH Secondary+Prevention
^ MeSH Tertiary+Prevention
^ Gofrit ON, Shemer J, Leibovici D, Modan B, Shapira SC. Quaternary prevention: a new look at an old challenge. Isr Med Assoc J. 2000;2(7):498-500.
^ Gordon, R. (1987), ‘An operational classification of disease prevention’, in Steinberg, J. A. and Silverman, M. M. (eds.), Preventing Mental Disorders, Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1987.
^ Kumpfer, K. L., and Baxley, G. B. (1997), 'Drug abuse prevention: What works?', National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville.
^ How should influenza prophylaxis be implemented?
^ Lars Bo Andersen et al. (June 2000). "All-cause mortality associated with physical activity during leisure time, work, sports, and cycling to work". Archives of Internal Medicine 160 (11): 1621–8. doi:10.1001/archinte.160.11.1621. PMID 10847255.
^ United States Department of Agriculture. "Why is it important to eat fruit?". United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/fruits-why.html. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
^ de Oliveira JC, Martinelli M, D'Orio Nishioka SA, et al. (2009). "Efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis prior to the implantation of pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators: Results of a large, prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial". Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology 2 (1): 29–34. doi:10.1161/CIRCEP.108.795906. PMID 19808441.
^ Ip S, Chung M, Raman G, ChewP, Magula N, DeVine D, Litt M, Trikalinos T, Lau J. Breastfeeding and maternal and infant health outcomes in developed countries. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment Number 153. 2007 April; AHRQ Publication No. 07-E007.
^ ^a ^b J. Joseph Speidel, Cynthia C. Harper, and Wayne C. Shields (September 2008). "The Potential of Long-acting Reversible Contraception to Decrease Unintended Pregnancy". Contraception. http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/contraception-journal/september-2008.
^ ^a ^b James Trussell, Anjana Lalla, Quan Doan, Eileen Reyes, Lionel Pinto, Joseph Gricar (2009). "Cost effectiveness of contraceptives in the United States". Contraception 79 (1): 5–14. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2008.08.003. PMID 19041435.
^ Monea J, Thomas A (June 2011). "Unintended pregnancy and taxpayer spending". Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 43 (2): 88–93. doi:10.1363/4308811. PMID 21651707.
^ Lopez AD, Mathers CD, Ezzati M, Jamison DT, Murray CJ (May 2006). "Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematic analysis of population health data". Lancet 367 (9524): 1747–57. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68770-9. PMID 16731270.
^ Jones G, Steketee R, Black R, Bhutta Z, Morris S, and the Bellagio Child Survival Study Group* (July 5, 2003 2003). "How many child deaths can we prevent this year?". Lancet 362 (9524): 1747–57.
^ Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL (March 2004). "Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000". JAMA 291 (10): 1238–45. doi:10.1001/jama.291.10.1238. PMID 15010446. http://www.csdp.org/research/1238.pdf.

Notations

External links

US Preventive Medicine Task Force
US Preventive Medicine
The Prevention Plan
Health-EU Portal Prevention and Promotion

Public health

General

Auxology • Biological hazard • Chief Medical Officer • Deviance (sociology) • Environmental health • Genomics • Globalization and disease • Health economics • Health literacy • Health policy (Health care system • Healthcare reform • Public health law) • Maternal health • Medical anthropology • Medical sociology • Mental health • Pharmaceutical policy • Public health laboratory • Reproductive health • Social psychology • Sociology of health and illness • Tropical disease

Preventive
medicine

Family planning • Health promotion • Human nutrition • Hygiene (Hand washing • Food safety • Infection control • Oral hygiene) • Occupational safety and health (Ergonomics • Hygiene • Injury prevention • Medicine • Nursing) • Patient safety (organization) • Pharmacovigilance • Safe sex • Sanitation (Community-led total sanitation • Sanitary sewer • Waterborne diseases • Water management) • Smoking cessation • Vaccination • Vector control • Violence

Population
health

Biostatistics • Community health • Epidemiology • Global health • Health impact assessment • Health software (Epi Info • OpenEpi) • Health system • Public health informatics • Social determinants of health (Health equity • Race and health) • Social medicine

Organizations, Education and History Health impact assessment •

Agencies and organizations	World Health Organization • European (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control • Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety) • India (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) • U.S. (U.S. Public Health Service (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) • Public Health - Center for Public Health Practice • Center for Minority Health • Council on Education for Public Health • Public Health – Seattle & King County) • World Toilet Organization • Globalization and Health

Education	Health education • Bachelor of Science in Public Health • Master of Public Health • Doctor of Public Health • European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) • Professional Further Education in Clinical Pharmacy and Public Health

History	Sara Josephine Baker • Samuel Jay Crumbine • Carl Rogers Darnall • Joseph Lister • Margaret Sanger • John Snow • "Typhoid Mary" • Germ theory of disease • Social hygiene movement

Medical Specialities

Specialties
and
subspecialties

Surgery

Cardiac surgery Cardiothoracic surgery Colorectal surgery General surgery Neurosurgery Ophthalmology Oral and maxillofacial surgery Orthopedic surgery Hand surgery Otolaryngology (ENT) Pediatric surgery Plastic surgery Surgical oncology Thoracic surgery Transplant surgery Trauma surgery Urology Vascular surgery

Internal medicine

Allergy / Immunology Andrology Angiology (Vascular Medicine) Cardiology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Hepatology Geriatrics Gynaecology Hematology Infectious disease Nephrology Oncology Pulmonology Rheumatology

Diagnostic

Healthcare sciences Clinical chemistry Clinical immunology Cytopathology Medical microbiology Transfusion medicine Radiology Interventional radiology, Nuclear medicine) Pathology (Anatomical, Clinical) Clinical neurophysiology

Other specialties

Addiction medicine Adolescent medicine Anesthesiology Dermatology Disaster medicine Emergency medicine Family medicine General practice Gynaecology Hospital medicine Intensive-care medicine Medical genetics Neurology Obstetrics Occupational medicine Pain management (Algiatry) Palliative care Pediatrics (Neonatology) Physical medicine and rehabilitation (Physiatry) Preventive medicine Psychiatry Radiation oncology Reproductive medicine (Reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Reproductive surgery) Sexual medicine Sleep medicine Sports medicine Transplantation medicine Tropical medicine (Travel medicine) Urogynecology

Others

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