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For those of us who receive regular periodic health examinations (PHEs), many of us may not be undergoing all of the recommended assessments we may be expecting, a new study warns us.
For the 20% of US adults who go in for PHEs, 46% of "eligible and due services" are entirely absent from the tests. Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the data comes from audio recordings of 484 doctor visits for PHEs at 64 general internal medicine and family physicians' offices in southeast Michigan.
This is obviously a concerning finding, but the lead author of the study says the figures are not surprising when you take into account the limited incentives screenings and preventive counseling offers doctors. Additionally, giving full attention to all the recommended tests is a time commitment many doctors are not able to afford.
Of 19 guideline-recommended preventive services, the most common screenings were for colorectal cancer, hypertension, and breast cancer. Services receiving the most sparse attention include counseling for aspirin use and vision screening, as well as recommendations or deliveries of flu vaccinations.
Furthermore, the greater the age of the patient or the greater the patient's BMI, the fewer the services.
The study's researchers hope that greater technological advancement may place personal health records into the hands of the patients so that we may be able to better conduct the regimen of tests we get for our PHEs.
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