Assignment 1: Case Study Assignment: Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children

Assignment 1: Case Study Assignment: Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests in Adults and Children

The assessment tools help in the diagnosis of various health conditions. A good tool should have a high level of accuracy and reliability. The burden of breast cancer continues to increase in the current era and so better and accurate tools need to be developed to increase the screening and diagnostic accuracy. The current study explores the effectiveness of mammogram tests in detecting breast cancer.

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The Purpose of the Test

A mammogram can be termed as a screening tool specifically used for diagnostic purposes that provides enough imaging to detect breast carcinoma. If performed in its earlier stages, there is a higher chance of getting a good prognosis which in turn is beneficial for an increased chance of patient survival (Le & Adler, 2020). It is essentially an x-ray of the breast. This imaging technique uses a low x-ray dose to produce a pictorial presentation of the breast. Women are encouraged to have the test done regularly to help in the early detection of breast cancer considering that cancer is among the leading killer diseases in women (Seely & Alhassan, 2018). Late diagnosis results in poor prognosis since the cancerous cells spread to other parts of the body and so become difficult to treat. The mammogram aims to help in identifying the changes in the breast tissue. The test can detect micro-calcifications of less than 100 micrometres; therefore, it can detect the possibility of a patient having cancer before even the palpable lumps form. Furthermore, the test involves one or two views of the breast tissues and so provides an accurate visualization of the breast. Alternatively, the test is also done in symptomatic cases to help in the pre-surgical localization.

NURS 6512 Assessment Tools, Diagnostics, Growth, Measurement, and Nutrition in Adults and Children

Many experts predict that genetic testing for disease susceptibility is well on its way to becoming a routine part of clinical care. Yet many of the genetic tests currently being developed are, in the words of the World Health Organization (WHO), of “questionable prognostic value.”

—Leslie Pray, PhD

Obesity remains one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States. As a leading cause of United States mortality, morbidity, disability, healthcare utilization and healthcare costs, the high prevalence of obesity continues to strain the United States healthcare system (Obesity Society, 2016).  More than one-third (39.8%) of U.S. adults have obesity (CDC, 2018). The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight (CDC, 2018).

Assessments are constantly being conducted on patients, but they may not provide useful information. In order to ensure that health assessments provide relevant data, nurses should familiarize themselves with test-specific factors that may affect the validity, reliability, and value of these tools.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years, with an estimated 13.7 million children and adolescents considered obese (CDC, 2018). When seeking insights about a patient’s overall health and nutritional state, body measurements can provide a valuable perspective. This is particularly important with pediatric patients. Measurements such as height and weight can provide clues to potential health problems and help predict how children will respond to illness. Nurses need to be proficient at using assessment tools, such as the Body Mass Index (BMI) and growth charts, in order to assess nutrition-related health risks and pediatric development while being sensitive to other factors that may affect these measures. Body Mass Index is also used