Aspects of biosocial screening and health maintenance in adolescents

Bridging childhood and adulthood, adolescence is a time of some of the most dramatic physical and psychological growth a human being experiences. Any health screening contact with an adolescent must aim, therefore, not only to detect previously unrecognized physical disease but also to assess aspects of social and psychological adjustment that may require intervention. Pediatricians who have traditionally practiced health screening and preventive medicine, must reorient their approach to meet the special needs of adolescent patients. Screening of adolescents takes place in the offices of primary care physicians, hospital based ambulatory and inpatient units, and school or college health services. The demographic, ethnic, racial, economic, and age characteristics of a patient population must be considered when designing both the content and the manner in which a screening protocol is carried out. Screening by definition aims to uncover previously unrecognized disease or defect, and is justified for those problems that are potentially serious and relatively common, have accepted criteria for diagnosis, and are treatable or controllable.