Snabbscreening

Snabbscreening is a term used to describe rapid screening processes designed to quickly identify individuals, items, or signals that warrant further evaluation or action. The word is a compound that reflects the idea of “snabb” (fast) screening and is encountered in Swedish-language contexts as well as in international discussions about rapid assessment methods. The concept is applied across domains where timely decisions are essential, such as healthcare, safety and security, and data analysis.

In healthcare, snabbscreening refers to quick triage and point-of-care screening procedures intended to determine urgency or need for further testing. Examples include symptom-based checklists, rapid diagnostic tests, and preliminary risk assessments conducted at the point of contact to streamline patient flow and resource allocation.

In safety and security contexts, snabbscreening encompasses fast screening of people, goods, or environments to identify potential risks. This can involve streamlined questionnaires, rapid checks, and decision rules that allow officials to escalate only a subset for full examination.

In research and data workflows, snabbscreening may denote preliminary filtering of large datasets or literature to identify relevant items for deeper review, using predefined criteria and lightweight analytics to reduce workload.

Limitations of snabbscreening include reduced sensitivity or specificity compared with full assessments, potential for false positives or negatives, and the risk of overlooking edge cases if criteria are too broad or simplistic. It is typically designed as a first step rather than a substitute for more comprehensive evaluation.

See also: screening, triage, rapid testing, point-of-care testing.