Preventing Obesity in Midlife Women: A Recommendation From the Women's Preventive Services Initiative.

DESCRIPTION: The Women's Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), a national coalition of women's health professional organizations and patient advocacy representatives, developed a recommendation for counseling midlife women aged 40 to 60 years with normal or overweight body mass index (BMI; 18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2) to maintain weight or limit weight gain to prevent obesity with the long-term goals of optimizing health, function, and well-being. This recommendation is intended to guide clinical practice and coverage of clinical preventive health services for the Health Resources and Services Administration and other stakeholders. Clinicians providing preventive health care to women in primary care settings are the target audience for this recommendation. METHODS: The WPSI developed this recommendation after evaluating results of a systematic review of the effectiveness and harms of interventions to prevent weight gain and obesity in women aged 40 to 60 years without obesity. Seven randomized clinical trials including 51 638 participants and using various counseling and behavioral interventions were included. Trials indicated favorable weight changes with interventions that were statistically significantly different from control groups in 4 of 5 trials of counseling, but not in 2 trials of exercise. Few harms were reported. RECOMMENDATION: The WPSI recommends counseling midlife women aged 40 to 60 years with normal or overweight BMI (18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2) to maintain weight or limit weight gain to prevent obesity. Counseling may include individualized discussion of healthy eating and physical activity.

Screening for Anxiety in Adolescent and Adult Women: A Recommendation From the Women's Preventive Services Initiative.

DESCRIPTION: The Women's Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), a national coalition of women's health professional organizations and patient representatives, developed a recommendation on screening for anxiety in adolescent and adult women to improve detection; achieve earlier diagnosis and treatment; and improve health, function, and well-being. The WPSI's recommendations are intended to guide clinical practice and coverage of services for the Health Resources and Services Administration and other stakeholders. The target audience for this recommendation includes all clinicians providing preventive health care to women, particularly in primary care settings. This recommendation applies to women and adolescent girls aged 13 years or older who are not currently diagnosed with anxiety disorders, including pregnant and postpartum women. METHODS: The WPSI developed this recommendation after evaluating results of a systematic review of the effectiveness of screening, accuracy of screening instruments, and benefits and harms of treatments in adolescent girls and adult women. No studies directly evaluated the overall effectiveness or harms of screening for anxiety. Twenty-seven screening instruments and their variations were moderately to highly accurate in identifying anxiety (33 individual studies and 2 systematic reviews; 171 studies total). Symptoms improved and relapse rates decreased with psychological therapies (246 randomized controlled trials [RCTs] in 5 systematic reviews) and with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (126 RCTs in 3 systematic reviews). The WPSI also considered the effect of screening on symptom progression and identification of associated and underlying conditions, as well as implementation factors. RECOMMENDATION: The WPSI recommends screening for anxiety in women and adolescent girls aged 13 years or older who are not currently diagnosed with anxiety disorders, including pregnant and postpartum women. Optimal screening intervals are unknown, and clinical judgment should be used to determine frequency. When screening suggests the presence of anxiety, further evaluation is necessary to establish the diagnosis and determine appropriate treatment and follow-up.

Screening for Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Recommendation From the Women's Preventive Services Initiative.

Description: Recommendation on screening for urinary incontinence in women by the Women's Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), a national coalition of women's health professional organizations and patient representatives. The WPSI's recommendations are intended to guide clinical practice and coverage of services for the Health Resources and Services Administration and other stakeholders. The target audience for this recommendation includes all clinicians providing preventive health care for women, particularly in primary care settings. This recommendation applies to women of all ages, as well as adolescents. Methods: The WPSI developed this recommendation after evaluating evidence regarding the benefits and harms of screening for urinary incontinence in women. The evaluation included a systematic review of the accuracy of screening instruments and the benefits and harms of treatments. Indirect evidence was used to link screening and health outcomes in the chain of evidence that might support screening in the absence of direct evidence. The WPSI also considered the effect of screening on symptom progression and avoidance of costly and complex treatments, as well as implementation factors. Recommendation: The WPSI recommends screening women for urinary incontinence annually. Screening ideally should assess whether women experience urinary incontinence and whether it affects their activities and quality of life. The WPSI recommends referring women for further evaluation and treatment if indicated.

Women's Preventive Services Initiative's Well-Woman Chart: A Summary of Preventive Health Recommendations for Women.

The Well-Woman Chart summarizes current recommendations for preventive health services for women from adolescence and continuing across the lifespan. It was developed by the Women's Preventive Services Initiative, a national collaborative of women's health professional organizations and patient representatives. The Well-Woman Chart includes current clinical guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Bright Futures from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Women's Preventive Services Initiative that are covered with no cost-sharing for public and most private insurance plans under the prevention service mandate of the Affordable Care Act. The structure of the Well-Woman Chart is based on age intervals and pregnancy status categories that align with existing recommendations. The target audience for the Well-Woman Chart is all clinicians providing preventive health care for women, particularly in primary care settings, and patients affected by the recommendations. The preventive services recommendations apply to females 13 years of age and older and pregnant females of any age. The Well-Woman Chart provides clinical guidance for screening, counseling, and other recommended preventive services for women during health care visits based on age, pregnancy status, and risk factors.

Women's aging benchmarks in relation to their health habits and concerns.

OBJECTIVES: To identify aging benchmarks for women and to examine relationships between women's perceptions of aging and their health behaviors and concerns. METHODS: More than 1000 primarily white women completed paper-and-pencil and Internet surveys of demographic, attitudinal, and health-behavior information. RESULTS: Aging benchmarks correlated significantly with women's education and employment levels, reported health status, and health behaviors including exercise, dieting, and breast augmentation surgery. Those who worried about aging were significantly more likely to diet but not more likely to exercise. CONCLUSION: More research is needed to understand how perceptions influence women's ability to impact the aging process.