The Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI) announced the 2020 update to the Recommendations for Well-Woman Care—A Well-Woman Chart. The well-woman chart is a comprehensive tool that summarizes preventive services recommendations for women from the WPSI, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and Bright Futures based on age, health status, and risk factors. The chart links to additional recommendations for immunizations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Screening for anxiety was recently added to the 2020 Well-Woman Chart update. Given the high prevalence of anxiety disorders, lack of recognition in clinical practice, and multiple problems associated with untreated anxiety, the new evidenced-based recommendation advises clinicians to consider screening women who have not been recently screened. Details including clinical practice considerations, risk assessment methods, and the age and frequency for delivering services are described in the clinical summary tables that accompany the well-woman chart. The clinical summary tables and well-woman chart are available on the WPSI website for free.

Recommendations for Well-Woman Care—A Well-Woman Chart provides a framework for incorporating preventive health services for women into clinical practice. These services may be completed at a single visit or as part of a series of visits that take place over time. The recommendations are not intended as a statement of the standard of care and do not comprise all proper treatments or methods of care. Health care professionals should use clinical judgment in applying these recommendations to individual patient care and consider the needs and resources particular to the locality, the institution, or the type of practice. The well-woman chart is updated annually.

Download a digital copy of the chart and clinical summary tables, or visit the WPSI website to request a free hard copy.