screening tests

[alla]

Hello,

I'd like to ask about the etymology of "screen" in the "medical screening tests" , e.g. pap smear, mammography as opposed to diagnostic tests, e.g.breast biopsy.

Does "screen" have the meaning of "sieve" here? The equivalent term has this meaning in Polish because a population group is sifted through a "sieve" = screening test to determine who has a given disease.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions

[emsr2d2]

Hello,

I'd like to ask about the etymology of "screen" in the "medical screening tests" , e.g. pap smear, mammography as opposed to diagnostic tests, e.g.breast biopsy.

Does "screen" have the meaning of "sieve" here? The equivalent term has this meaning in Polish because a population group is sifted through a "sieve" = screening test to determine who has a given disease.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions

I'd never thought of it like a sieve but yes, that's a similar thing. We use "screen" for a lot of things where you want to divide a group of people into smaller groups based on specific criteria.

We also say that people are "screened out" of something - it means that they didn't qualify for something, again based on particular criteria. Note that we don't say "screened in".

[birdeen's call]

A screen sieve.