The reasons patients request "checkups": implications for office practice

When patients request checkups, physicians may assume it is for detection of asymptomatic disease. However, such patients may have other, covert reasons for seeking medical care which might not be addressed by a periodic health examination. The authors interviewed 38 consecutive patients who requested a new appointment at an academic, hospital-based general medical practice, and said the appointment was for a checkup and not an acute problem. Health screening was the principal reason for requesting evaluation of only 24% of patients. Fifty-two per cent had two or more reasons: psychosocial problems, health concerns, or symptoms. Psychosocial problems, with and without other problems, were the reason 45% of patients requested checkups. Physicians should be alert to the various reasons why patients request checkups, and not assume that a periodic health examination alone is an appropriate response.