Strategies that seek to control/identify disease before symptoms is best described as which level of prevention?

• A. Secondary
• B. Primary
• C. Tertiary
• D. Quaternary

Answer: (A)

Secondary prevention is about detecting disease early in people who have no symptoms, so you can intervene now to prevent progression and reduce complications. When we screen for conditions before symptoms appear—like mammograms to spot breast cancer early, colonoscopies for colorectal cancer, Pap smears for cervical cancer, or routine tests to find hypertension or high blood sugar—you’re aiming to catch disease in its latent, asymptomatic stage. That early identification allows treatment or lifestyle changes that can stop the illness from advancing. In contrast, primary prevention tries to stop the disease from ever developing (for example, vaccination or promoting healthy behaviors), while tertiary prevention focuses on reducing damage once disease is already established and causing symptoms. Quaternary prevention isn’t part of the main four levels and relates more to avoiding unnecessary interventions.