Underuse refers to which situation?

Underuse refers to which situation?

• A. Absence of health care services that might help prevent, detect, or treat a health care problem early.
• B. Underuse refers to providing too many services.
• C. The absence of necessary services that might help prevent, detect, or treat a health care problem early.
• D. Underuse occurs when patients are overtreated.

Answer: (C)

Underuse means not providing services that are indicated and would likely improve health outcomes. It focuses on essential, evidence-based care that should be offered to prevent problems, detect them early, or treat a condition effectively. The phrasing that emphasizes the absence of necessary services captures this idea: when guidelines or standard care call for a particular screening, test, or treatment and it is not provided, that is underuse. For example, not offering a recommended preventive screening to an eligible patient or not starting a proven treatment when indicated are classic cases of underuse. In contrast, other options describe giving too many services or overtreatment, which are not what underuse refers to.

Underuse means not providing services that are indicated and would likely improve health outcomes. It focuses on essential, evidence-based care that should be offered to prevent problems, detect them early, or treat a condition effectively. The phrasing that emphasizes the absence of necessary services captures this idea: when guidelines or standard care call for a particular screening, test, or treatment and it is not provided, that is underuse. For example, not offering a recommended preventive screening to an eligible patient or not starting a proven treatment when indicated are classic cases of underuse. In contrast, other options describe giving too many services or overtreatment, which are not what underuse refers to.