Screen all girls 13 and older for anxiety disorders, new recommendation says

The Women's Preventive Services Initiative — a coalition of U.S. women's health professional and patient organizations — is recommending that girls and women over the age of 13 be screened for anxiety even if they don't currently have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Such screening is not a routine part of preventive health checkups, even though the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also recommends it. The WPSI looked at a new systemic review that analyzed 35 studies. Although none of the studies included in the review directly evaluated whether routine screening was effective or harmful, the screening tools that were included in the studies were moderately or highly accurate in identifying anxiety. And because anxiety can be treated, "early detection through the use of a brief questionnaire could prevent years of symptoms and impairment in the lives of women at every stage of life," the recommendation states.