The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has released its final guidance that health care providers, including PTs, should screen patients for anxiety conditions, and APTA is helping members understand how to follow the recommendations.

An updated APTA Practice Advisory on screening patients for anxiety is now available that mirrors the most recently finalized task force recommendations for patients ages 19-64. The new guidance complements an earlier finalized recommendation for screening patients ages 8-18. APTA’s updated practice advisory reflects this guidance, and PTs, in their roles as primary clinicians, should be prepared to take part in patient screenings per the task force guidance.

Available only to APTA members, the APTA advisory includes the signs and symptoms to look for and suggests tests to use for screening. The advisory recognizes that the screening tools are not enough to diagnose an anxiety disorder but can give a PT the sense of whether the patient’s anxiety may impact the plan of care as well as whether a referral to a qualified health professional with the appropriate expertise is needed.