Performance Indicators in Screening Programmes

Abstract

Breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screening programmes make it possible to decrease the population mortality rates of these diseases. How-ever, complex standards of the quality of care must be introduced and followed in order to maintain a favourable ratio between the benefits and risks arising from population-wide screening programmes. Such programmes should be organized and population-based, ensuring that quality control is performed at all levels. This review introduces the system of quality control in the Czech cancer screening programmes, and provides specific examples of performance indicators that are usable and/ or being used in these programmes. Cancer screening programmes in the Czech Republic are equipped with a comprehensive information background which involves monitoring of the cancer burden in the population, monitoring of the screening process based on clinical data, and monitoring of the screening process based on administrative data. In particular, the specific performance indicators describe the success rate of take up of the target population, ability of the screening test to reveal (sensitivity) or to exclude (specificity) the screened condition, correct employment of subsequent diagnostic methods or treatment of detected cancers or precancerous lesions where applicable. In the Czech breast cancer screening programme, these indicators are routinely used in order to monitor the individual centres; in both colorectal and cervical cancer screening programmes, these indicators are used to monitor the entire programme, whereas the system of quality control for individual centres is under continuous development. A project of personalized invitations was launched in 2014, and its results are regularly evaluated in cooperation with the Czech National Reference Centre and the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.