RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Invitation to attend a health check in a general practice setting: the views of a cohort of non-attenders
JF The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
JO J R Coll Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 57
OP 60
VO 38
IS 307
A1 Pill, Roisin
A1 Stott, Nigel
YR 1988
UL http://bjgp.org/content/38/307/57.abstract
AB Two hundred and fifty-nine men and women aged 20-45 years who did not respond to an offer from their general practitioner for a health check were interviewed at home to explore the reasons for non-response. There was no support for the view that the invitation aroused anxiety or that the administrative arrangements had been a barrier to acceptance. Many subjects were not really interested (44%) or just forgot to attend (24%). Crises at work or home (26%) and current attendance at a doctor (16%) were other reasons offered, while 11% felt screening to be in appropriate. There is little that can be done to change these rates except by a shift of public opinion to more consumer demand for health checks or by more opportunistic health checks when people attend their doctors for other reasons. The dangers of marketing health checks to increase consumer demand are discussed in the light of these findings and other work.