The value of annual medical examinations in the nursing home

Although annual medical examinations are required in many nursing homes for all residents, little is known about the value of these examinations. To investigate this, 732 annual examinations were evaluated for frequency of positive findings and clinical importance of the findings. Although 51 per cent of examinations yielded a finding that was new or related to a known chronic disease process, only 3 per cent of findings were judged by primary care physicians to be of major importance. Approximately a fourth of findings were considered to be of intermediate importance. These results provide only modest support for endorsing annual medical examinations for nursing home residents.