Relabelled: “A Screening Instrument”

I read this book recently:

This book reminded my of a protocol issued by an NHS Board in Scotland:

As a doctor who tries his best to follow evidence-based medicine, I argued against this approach. I found that neither this NHS Board nor indeed NHS Scotland shared my concerns:

With the recent publication of the Care Standards for Older People, the Chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland confirmed:

It would appear to me that this “screening instrument” has been relabelled by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The 4AT was developed and promoted as:

Recently the 4AT has been relabelled as:

The authors  4AT describe its key features:

(1) “brevity” (takes less than 2 minutes”), and

(2) that “no special training is required”

I should confirm that I use rating scales with patients as part of my daily professional life.

However I would never start out with a rating scale. To me, that would seem most disrespectful.

Rating scales can add to wider medical understanding. This is why, despite my awareness of any intrinsic shortcomings, that I continue to feel that they can be helpful.

The 4AT has recently been re-branded an “assessment test”. The 4AT was promoted for several years, with the support of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, as a “screening tool”. The validation studies, still underway, describe the 4AT as a “screening” tool.

Given that there has been no change to the test itself, I would suggest that this is relabelling.