Which organization is widely recognized for issuing evidence-based guidelines for preventive services, including screenings?

• A. American Cancer Society
• B. US Preventive Services Task Force
• C. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists
• D. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Answer: (B)

Evidence-based guidelines for preventive services come from a group that systematically reviews the medical literature and issues graded recommendations about screenings and other preventive measures. This organization convenes independent experts who evaluate the benefits and harms of a wide range of preventive services for asymptomatic people, then rate the strength of the evidence and the net benefit. The resulting recommendations are graded to show how confident we can be about the benefit and how strongly clinicians should act on them; grades indicating larger net benefit support offering the service routinely and often influence insurance coverage. Because of this rigorous, broad approach to evaluating preventive care, this organization is widely recognized as the standard source for evidence-based preventive screening guidelines, more so than groups that publish disease- or specialty-specific guidance.