RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Invitation to attend a health check in a general practice setting: comparison of attenders and 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 53
OP 56
VO 38
IS 307
A1 Roisin Pill
A1 Jennifer French
A1 Keith Harding
A1 Nigel Stott
YR 1988
UL http://bjgp.org/content/38/307/53.abstract
AB A sample of 1570 men and women aged 20-45 years registered with an inner-city Cardiff practice were offered the opportunity by their general practitioner to have a health check at the surgery. The demographic characteristics, attitudes, beliefs and preventive health behaviour and past contact with the practice were compared for a sample of 259 non-attenders and 216 attenders. The results showed that attenders were generally better educated, better motivated to look after their health, had fewer ties and commitments, performed more healthapproved practices, had had more recent contact with their own practice and accepted the legitimacy of a general practitioner's interest in his patients' lifestyle. Offering cohorts of patients additional screening services is unlikely to be efficient or effective since it is the low-risk people already known to the doctor who are most likely to attend. The onus lies on primary health care to provide services in a way which permits appropriate screening of the high-risk groups as they attend for other reasons.