Patients' Experiences of Health Checks in General Practice: a Sample Survey

The 1990 contract for general practitioners in the UK offeredincentives for them to organize health promo tion clinics andrequired them to perform ‘lifestyle’ checkups oftheir patients every 3 years, despite uncertainty about theimpact of such checks on patient health. To address this lackof appropriate evaluation, a follow-up study to assess benefitsin terms of patient behaviour and health resulting from theintroduction of lifestyle checkups in general practice in asample of more than 7000 patients aged 30–70 from 18 practicesin three FHSA areas (in south London, Surrey and Yorkshire)has been performed. Eighteen per cent of the random sample ofpatients reported having a health check in the previous year.A full health check comprising measurement of blood pressure,height and weight, urinalysis and questioning about smokinghabits, alcohol consumption, exercise, diet and family illnesseshad been given to 29% of respondents reporting a health checkof any kind. Respondents in less privileged socioeconomic groupswere more likely to have had a health check, but less likelyto have had a ‘full’ check. Reactions to the checkswere mainly positive; 81% regarded the check as helpful, andonly 6% reported it to be worrying and 6% a waste of time. Theimplications for the new health promotion banding system inthe UK are discussed.