![]() ![]() Primary care stresses counseling on healthy lifestyles, avoidance of risks, and early disease detection. 3 Gynecologists can ensure with annual examinations that this type of basic health maintenance screening is not overlooked. For example, 14% of women between the ages of 65 and 74 years and 39% of those older than 75 have never had a Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. Many aspects of gynecologic and medical screening may not be addressed by the patient's primary care provider. Last defined primary care as “continuity of care and ongoing relationship between patient and physician, superseding issues of medical specialty, to provide for health maintenance and disease prevention.” 2 An otherwise healthy woman whose obstetrician or gynecologist is her only physician has needs that are different from those of the patient with comprehensive geriatric care who is being referred for a specific complaint. Ideally, disease prevention and screening should be done at regular visits to a primary care physician. What should be the role of the gynecologist in screening elderly women for disease? The answer depends on the clinical situation in which the patient presents. ![]()
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