[Compliance with recommended periodic examinations of workers in Israel]

Initial design and subsequent improvement of health education and health promotion programs should be based on reliable, current data on the health-related habits of the target population. Various organizations in the Israeli health system conduct campaigns encouraging the general population to undergo periodic blood pressure and blood cholesterol measurements. In addition, regular examination of the breast and uterine cervix are recommended for women. However, there is no systematic on-going monitoring of compliance with these recommendations. Health promotion programs in the work-place are regularly conducted by the national Occupational Health Institute (affiliated with the General Labor Federation Health Insurance Institute). To obtain basic information on such health-related behavior, a survey was conducted in April 1992 in a sample of 1,042 employees at 6 places of work. The results indicate relatively low compliance with recommended periodic health examinations and demonstrate the need for regular studies of this kind in representative population samples. In this way decision-makers in public health service would be provided the data essential for determining optimal allocation of resources to health promotion programs.