A well-woman visit with an ob.gyn. should include preventive services and counseling, according to an updated committee opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Gynecologic Practice.
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“A well-woman visit provides an excellent opportunity to counsel patients about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and minimizing health risks,” according to the opinion, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. The updated opinion coincides with the release of the new Well-Woman Chart from the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative.
Previous research suggests that many women prefer an ob.gyn. or other women’s health care specialist not only for reproductive health care but also for services such as cervical cancer screening, contraception, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, the committee members wrote. Although surveys of ob.gyns. show that most provide some level of overall health and primary care, the screening and other clinical preventive services were not consistent.
The committee opinion consequently recommends that the “periodic well-woman care visit should include screening, evaluation and counseling, and immunizations based on age and risk factors.” However, the committee acknowledged that the interval for specific services varies among patients, as does the scope of services provided in different settings.
“Taking a comprehensive history (specifically obtaining detailed information on symptoms and past medical and gynecologic history) will inform if certain components of the physical examination, including breast or pelvic examination, are indicated at that visit and will inform shared decision making for these examinations,” committee members wrote. Topics that should be addressed during lifespan include sexual health (which may include contraception, prepregnancy counseling, sexually transmitted infections, and infertility), vulvovaginal symptoms, and bone health.
Not all components of a physical may be required at a well-woman visit, but ob.gyns. can play a key role by encouraging and facilitating healthy behaviors, counseling on preventive health strategies, and engaging women in shared decision-making. Screening for smoking, poor diet, and lack of physical activity are important. Ob.gyns. also can be part of the team-based care for women that may include physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals.
The most notable change from the previous opinion is that it coincides with the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative’s release of a Well-Woman Chart, which is designed to help ob.gyns. navigate the implementation of ACOG’s well-woman guidance, Christopher Zahn, MD, vice president of practice activities for ACOG, said in an interview.
“In tandem, these documents support ob.gyns. and other women’s health care providers’ efforts to make well-woman visits more personalized care that prioritizes shared decision-making over a woman’s lifetime,” he said. The opinion statement also includes the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative as a source of information for recommendations on well-woman care, and includes new guidance on the elements of a physical exam, including the pelvic exam.
“Ob.gyns. care for women over their lifetime, and increasingly this includes a lot of preventive care. The committee opinion details ACOG’s overall approach to well-women care and the role of the ob.gyn. as a provider of preventive services,” said Dr. Zahn. “The accompanying well-woman chart, targeted to providers, summarizes needed preventive services ensuring that time can be spent effectively and productively during each well-woman visit. By centering shared decision making and care tailored to each woman’s health care needs at every life stage, the well-woman visit is a fundamental part of the patient-provider relationship.”
Dr. Zahn noted that ongoing, high-quality research is essential to determine what strategies are most effective for women’s preventive care needs at every life stage. “Further research is also needed to identify screening strategies for women in certain higher risk groups and to reduce disparities in outcomes in certain populations of women. From cancer screening to new contraceptive methods, to managing symptoms of menopause, the more research we have to support our recommendations for these services, the more effectively we can care for women and help to keep them healthy for many, many years,” he emphasized.
The committee recommended additional resources for ob.gyns. and other health care providers, as well as for patients. The resources are available online at www.acog.org/More-Info/WellWoman.
The new opinion statement, which replaces the previous opinion issued in 2012, was developed by the ACOG Committee on Gynecologic Practice in collaboration with committee member Catherine Witkop, MD, MPH, of the Uniformed Health Sciences University in Bethesda, Md. The committee members had no relevant financial conflicts to disclose.