September 21, 2011 – In order to update its 2004 recommendation, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a review to identify and assess any new available evidence on screening for coronary heart disease in asymptomatic adults with resting or exercise electrocardiography (ECG). The review, conducted by the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, examined four key questions: 1) whether screening with resting or exercise ECG improves coronary heart disease outcomes; 2) whether identifying high-risk people with resting or exercise ECG affects the use of treatments to reduce cardiovascular events; 3) whether resting or exercise ECG results can be used to accurately classify people into high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups; and 4) whether there are harms associated with screening with resting or exercise ECG.
The evidence report was published in the September 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine and is available on the USPSTF Web site at http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Topic/recommendation-summary/v2-coronary-heart-disease-electrocardiography-scre.
The USPSTF is a national, independent panel of nonfederal medical experts that makes recommendations based on scientific evidence to primary care doctors and other health care providers about which clinical preventive services they should offer their patients.
