The advantages and disadvantages of medical screening. The contribution of psychology to health screening. According to Durojaiye (2009), health screening is a systematic application of a test or survey to identify individuals at risk for a specific health problem. This allows for further investigation or direct preventive action with people who have not sought medical attention due to their symptoms of this problem. Screening is different from diagnosis because it is carried out on asymptomatic people; it does not provide a diagnosis but rather identifies individuals at increased risk for follow-up diagnostic testing. Therefore, the main objective of the screening program is to detect the disease or risk factors within the general population, in order to carry out preventive or therapeutic intervention, because the highest benefit that can be derived from Specific treatment is when the disease is less advanced (Trevena, 2009). Health screening has a number of benefits and there is a lot of research that has shown the benefits that health screening brings to the healthcare industry. However, in recent years, research has emerged on the opportunity cost of health screening. As a result, many researchers have indicated that there are a significant number of disadvantages associated with health screening. This essay explores the pros and cons of medical screening and highlights the contribution of psychology to medical screening. Wardle and Pope (1992) stated that it can be very difficult to assess the benefits of health screening. This is mainly because premature deaths from chronic diseases, for example breast and cervical cancer, are relatively rare and, therefore, very numerous... middle of article.. .... ammography: Cochrane Database Syst Rev (Question 4): Art. No.: CD001877. DOI: 10.1002/14651858. Skravanek, P. (1988). The mass mammography debate in Britain: Br Med J; 297: 1542. Stewart-Brown, S. and Farmer, A. (1997) Screening Could Seriously Damage Your Health BMJ; 314:533Stoate, H.G. (1989). Can medical screening harm your health? J Roy Co11 Gen Practitioners; 39:193-195.Trevena L. (2009) Cancer screening From Australian Family Physician: School of Public Health, University of Sydney, New South Wales. Flight. 38, No. 4Tymstra, T. (1986) False positive results of screening tests: experiences of parents of children screened for congenital hypothyroidism, Oxford University Press Vol3, No. 2Wardle, J. and Pope, R. (1992 ) The Psychological Costs of Cancer Screening, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 36, no. 7, p... 609-624.