Thursday, May 13, 2010

Life Line Screening - Worth the Money?

A patient brought in a flyer for Life Line Screening where for $129 an individual can have their carotid (neck) and peripheral (leg) arteries screened for blockage, abdominal aorta for aneurysm (swelling), and osteoporosis. The advertisement claims that "we can help you avoid a stroke" and their logo notes Life Line Screening - The Power of Prevention.

The question is whether having this Life Line Screening test is worth your money?

Short answer? No.


Although the flyer correctly indicates that 80 percent of stokes can be prevented, the National Stroke Assocation does not recommend ultrasound as a screening test. Preventing stroke includes quitting smoking, knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, drinking alcohol in moderation (if already doing so), regularly exercising, and ingesting a low sodium diet. Their is no mention of an ultrasound test. Why?

Because there is NO evidence that this type of ultrasound testing saves lives in individuals who are healthy and have no symptoms except for the following situations.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) latest guidelines recommend only screening men between age 65 to 75 years old who have ever smoked to be screened for an aortic aneurysm. If you are in this group, ask your doctor for an ultrasound.

For women, osteoporosis screening should begin at age 65 years old and have a bone density test done. Among the "different bone measurement tests performed at various anatomical sites, bone density measured at the femoral neck by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the best predictor of hip fracture." It is unclear how accurate or how good ultrasound of the heel or wrist is compared to the bone density test. If you feel you have other risk factors, like family history, use of steroids for a long period of time, then check with your doctor to see if screening should be done sooner. Otherwise at age 65, all women should be evaluated not with an ultrasound but a bone density test.

USPSTF recommends against screening for peripheral artery / vascular disease (PAD) as well as carotid ultrasound.

Worried about either condition? Ask your doctor. For peripheral vascular disease, particularly when significant, individuals commonly have leg pain when walking. The blockage in the arteries decreases blood flow to the leg muscles when active causing pain. When the person stops walking, the pain resolves. A doctor can determine whether you have PAD by seeing if you have good foot pulses simply by placing fingers on the pedal pulses. If your pulses are normal, then you don't have significant PAD. If the doctor is concerned about your symptoms, he will order an ultrasound which will be covered by insurance.

There is a reason why Life Line Screening in small print writes that they do "not participate in the Medicare program and the cost of [their] screening services is not covered or reimbursable by Medicare" as well as they do "not file insurance claims and the cost of [their] screening services is your responsibility."

There is NO scientific evidence these tests can make a difference except in the specific situations listed above. Since insurance companies and Medicare only want to cover what is proven, Life Line Screening wants you to pay for an essentially unnecessary test.


Better use for your money? Check your blood pressure and your cholesterol. Quit smoking. Cut down alcohol use if you already drink. Maintain a low sodium diet. To prevent osteoporosis, women should take 1200 to 1500 mg of calcium per day as well as 800 to 1000 IU of vitamin D daily.

For $129? Get a really nice pair of walking shoes. Get a pedal exerciser for under your desk. Keep your muscles moving and maintain a healthy weight.


Oh, please don't spend too much money on multivitamins because they aren't worth the money either.

Want more helpful tips? Worry about whether you are getting the best medical care? Does your doctor seemed rushed? Not answering your questions? I have a solution for you!

8 comments:

Bill Costa said...

I recently received a flyer from this outfit as well. Thank you for confirming my suspicions regarding the usefulness of this service. When I verified that my (fairly liberal) Health Reimbursement plan wouldn't cover this type of testing, that provided a pretty strong indication that this would not be money well spent.

Anonymous said...

Dr Liu, albeit your article is fairly old I couldn't help but comment on your gross misconception of the facts. First and foremost, you are not a specialist in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Therefore your knowledge of this field is fairly limited compared to that of a Cardiologist or Cardiothoracic Surgeon who has to deal with the more than one million heart attack and stroke victims each year. Primary care physicians have clearly done a poor job at educating and treating their patients on the cardiovascular disease epidemic facing this country today. Data is critical in making optimal health care decisions so what harm is done in arming a physician such as yourself with more data on the patient. Also I find it interesting that the USPSTF, of whom you reference as being experts on the subject, DO NOT HAVE ONE cardiovacular specialist on their panel. If you truly want to provide a factual assessment of the necessity of these screenings then I recommend you review the recommendations of an organization who is well versed on the subject such as the ACC (American College of Cardiology) "not the USPSTF". ACC guidelines clearly indicate the value of these screenings in identifying cardiovascular disease in patients. Perhaps you are ok with the status quo and maybe nearly 800,000 heart attack and stroke deaths each year are acceptable to you and the USPSTF. For me personally I feel that if $129 can allow me to see inside my arteries and find out if I have some plaque or any other cardiovascular issues then it's money well spent. I'm not sure a $129 pair of shoes would get me off the couch but if I found out my arteries were 40% blocked then that would surely motivate me to do something different.

Davis Liu, MD said...

Clearly Anonymous is not comfortable in (a) identifying who they are and (b) fails to understand the role of primary care. My job as a primary care doctor is to prevent disease and illness and to save my patients from needing a cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon.
The ACC guidelines were incorporated as part of this guideline and show there is NO benefit to screening in asymptomatic (no symptoms) on patients.
http://www.guideline.gov/content.aspx?id=34783

The guidelines from the following major professional and health organizations were used for comparison of recommendations on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease screening:

United States Preventive Services Task Force
American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association
Society for Vascular Surgery
National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III
Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force
American Diabetes Association
Society of Interventional Radiology

Note the following:
Screening for Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

The authors agree with the USPSTF that screening for PAD among asymptomatic adults in the general population is expected to have few or no benefits because of the low prevalence of PAD in this group. There is also little evidence that treatment of PAD at this asymptomatic stage of disease, beyond treatment based on standard cardiovascular risk assessment, improves health outcomes. Most of the literature on PAD pertains to treatment of symptomatic patients, and there is little data directly examining the efficacy of PAD screening among asymptomatic adults in the general population or in higher-risk adults.

Existing evidence supports the use of increased physical activity and smoking cessation to improve outcomes among people with early PAD. However, these interventions should be offered to all patients to encourage healthy lifestyles, and do not necessarily offer additional benefit for people with screen-identified PAD. Finally, screening asymptomatic adults with the ABI could potentially lead to some small degree of harm, including false-positive results and unnecessary workups. Therefore, the potential harms associated with routine PAD screening in asymptomatic adults would exceed the potential benefits.

ACPM does not recommend routine screening for asymptomatic PAD in the general adult population. However, clinicians should be alert to symptoms of PAD in people at increased risk (e.g., people aged >50 years, smokers, and individuals with diabetes) and evaluate patients who have clinical evidence of vascular disease. Therapeutic lifestyle changes including a heart-healthy diet, regular exercise, and smoking cessation should be encouraged in addition to other pharmacologic risk reduction strategies for individuals at risk for PAD.

The above recommendations are as of March 2011.

Unknown said...

I am a 57 year old white male and I see a cardiologist for elevated blood pressure, for which he prescribes medication. I see him once a year at which time he does a cardiogram, listens to my heart, takes my pulse, asks health questions, etc. For the past 2 years he has encouraged me to do this battery of tests and says he and his wife do them every other year or so. He has no affiliation with the company that does the tests and he tells me in his opinion the tests are worth the costs. I recently got the flyer from the company offering these tests in conjunction with a major hospital in my area and for $150 I think I will go ahead and do the tests. Maybe it will show I have nothing wrong but I feel if it brings peace of mind and makes my cardiologist happy it is worth it, he indicated he would like to see the results by the way.

Incidentally I originally had a GP/primary care doctor several years ago that I liked, he was the one who found my blood pressure issue. Sadly I moved and tried 2 different PC doctors so I could continue to get my medications but did not like either one, both wanted to see me every 3 to 6 months in their office just to approve refills, etc. My cholesterol numbers were boderline and they both also were into pushing me towards drug therapy (statins) instead of even suggesting I just get more exercise or watch what I ate. I took it upon myself to make lifestyle changes and my cholesterol improved to where the cardiologist is happy and I feel much better about my weight, etc. In my situation, I felt the PC doctors were relying too much on prescribing popular drugs pushed by pharmaceutical companies unnecessarily and requiring me to come in just to build income for their practices. After trying both for a year each I quit seeing them and am happy I did. I see a cardiologist as mentioned and a pulmonary doctor for my asthma. I see both just once a year, get a good exam by a specialist in their field and even though I pay a bit more in my copay I am very happy.

Thanks for considering my story and opinion

maggie.danhakl@healthline.com said...

Hi,

Healthline just published a visualization of your daily value of sodium. In the chart, you can see what half of your DV of salt looks like for 30 foods: http://www.healthline.com/health/high-blood-pressure-hypertension/daily-value-sodium

This is very valuable content as it puts nutrition information into perspective and helps a person understand how much sodium is actually in their food. I thought this would be of interest to your audience and wanted to see if you would include this as a resource on your page: http://davisliumd.blogspot.com/2010/05/life-line-screening-worth-money.html

If you do not believe this would be a good fit for a resource on your site, even sharing this on your social communities would be a great alternativeto help get the word out.

Thanks for your time reviewing. Please let me know your thoughts and if there are any questions I can answer.

All the best,
Maggie Danhakl • Assistant Marketing Manager
p: 415-281-3124 f: 415-281-3199

Healthline • The Power of Intelligent Health
660 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
www.healthline.com | @Healthline | @HealthlineCorp

About Us: corp.healthline.com

Gabby Tony said...

Looks Like "Annonymous" is nothing but a shill for LifeLineScreening

DaveD said...

I wonder why people who don't smoke, have good blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, drink alcohol in moderation , regularly exercise, and ingest a low sodium diet are still having strokes and heart attacks?
Seems like a decent test at a reasonable price for peace of mind to know you have no arterial blockage.

Anonymous said...

Just because it doesn't cost you an arm and leg it still could be effective. There are many screenings here that seem like the same as you get it other facilities that charge your insurance thousands of dollars and then you pay the 20% or deductible which I can guarantee will be a lot more than $129.00.Sure nothing is 100% guaranteed but it is a good indicator that something is not right and then you can choose to go to your doctor for further testing. They have been in business along time.

Good alterative for those who don't have insurance or those with high deductibles and can afford testing otherwise. I have a $5,000 deductible if I find out I have a problem I cant afford to fix it anyway.

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