Physicals
Are annual physicals necessary?
The Issue
Millions of people get physicals every year in order to find any potential health issues and get advice on diet and exercise. However, researchers are debating whether healthy people with no symptoms require routine exams, and whether annual physicals are worth the healthcare money used for them.
— Catalina Gonella, Nia Creator
Most Popular Question
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This Question: 4Annual physicals are necessary because:Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersGeneral health checks did not reduce morbidity or mortality, neither overall nor for cardiovascular or cancer causes, although they increased the number of new diagnoses.
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Regardless of which screenings and tests were administered, studies of annual health exams dating from 1963 to 1999 show that the annual physicals did not reduce mortality overall or for specific causes of death from cancer or heart disease.
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There were no consistent associations between the PHE [periodic health evaluations] and any of the other 13 outcomes evaluated (counseling, immunizations, mammography, disease detection, health habits, health status, blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol levels, costs, disability, hospitalization and mortality).
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Most Divisive Question
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This Question: 3Annual physicals are necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersThe only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have it checked regularly. High blood sugar and high cholesterol levels also may not have any symptoms in the early stages. Simple blood tests can check for these conditions.
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Routine questions about exercise, alcohol use, depression, domestic abuse and hearing problems, for example, may lead to treatments or interventions that make major improvements in your health or quality of life. Questions about smoke detectors, use of seat belts or a bicycle helmet may be helpful to encourage some simple measures that can be lifesaving. Finding out about past vaccinations and whether you are due for boosters falls into this category.
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One trial found a 20% increase in the total number of new diagnoses per participant over six years compared to the control group.
Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersFurther, researchers have long noted that screening healthy people who have no complaints is a pretty ineffective way to improve people’s health. If you screen thousands of people, maybe you’ll find tens whose exams suggest they might have a disease. -
Remaining Questions
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This Question: 3Annual physicals are necessary because:Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersDuring these health checks, an estimated $322 million is spent annually on laboratory tests that no guideline groups recommend. The costs of downstream testing and overtreatment are likely to be much larger. [...] It is likely that follow-up testing from general health checks substantially contributes to the estimated $210 billion in annual spending on unnecessary medical services.
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This Question: 2Annual physicals are necessary because:Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersIn 1979, a Canadian government task force officially recommended giving up the standard head-to-toe annual physical based on studies showing it to be “nonspecific,” “inefficient” and “potentially harmful,” replacing it instead with a small number of periodic screening tests, which depend in part on a patient’s risk factors for illness.
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This Question: 1Annual physicals are necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersSubstantial indirect evidence supports the effectiveness of screening adults to detect hypertension and treating them to reduce cardiovascular disease.Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersAnd of those individuals [who test positive for a disease], maybe one or two actually gain a health benefit from an early diagnosis.The others may have discovered a disease, but one that either would never have become clinically evident and dangerous, or one that is already too advanced to treat effectively.
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This Question: 1Annual physicals are necessary because:Annual physicals are not necessary because:Top Support Story Added By UsersThen there's the risk that a doctor will run a test and find a problem that's not actually there. It's called a false positive, and it can lead to a cascade of follow-up tests that can be expensive and could cause real harm.
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Intensive screening can prove useless for a number of reasons, experts say: Tests can have high rates of “false positives,” signaling that there may be disease, when further tests and procedures reveal none.
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After 10 years of annual screening, more than half of women will receive at least 1 false-positive recall, and 7% to 9% will receive a false-positive biopsy recommendation. Biennial screening appears to reduce the cumulative probability of false-positive results after 10 years but may be associated with a small absolute increase in the probability of late-stage cancer diagnosis.
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Final Thoughts
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Suchita Chharia
Interesting read especially since I just had my physical yesterday. Physical are helpful in building a relationship with a doctor, catching something that may not have otherwise been caught until later, and providing patients a chance to talk to their doctor about certain matters that may not have seemed concerning enough an issue to pay for a separate appointment. Plus insurance usually covers these and preventatives measures are found to be incredibly effective.
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Meenakshi Parashar
Physicals can help detect bodily issues that an individual might not notice themselves. Early intervention for certain diseases and illnesses helps saves a patient money because the issue is tackled before it becomes malignant. It's better to be safe than sorry. If an individual is insured and can afford to get annual physicals, then I see no need for them not to.
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Catalina GonellaNia Creator
I think physicals are worth it because not only do they often help to detect and prevent health issues that may otherwise go by unnoticed, but they foster the patient-doctor relationship which in my opinion is priceless. I think that knowing your doctor is extremely beneficial because once a health issue does come up, you will feel comfortable talking to them about it.
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Molly Banta
Many aspects of physicals are unnecessary and a waste for those who are young and symptom-less. But, certain tests are still recommended annually, thought it seems that a formal physical exam is not necessary (ie: blood pressure can even be taken at your local super market). It seems other tests, such as mammograms or certain vaccines, are recommended on different timelines altogether. Though annual physical exams may prove pointless, the best course of action may be to sit down (not-annually) with your doctor and clarify these timelines and expectations.
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Lea Thali
While there are can be unnecessary testing done at physicals, people may benefit from going to physicals because it starts a dialogue with their doctor. Whether it is just to check in about weight, mental health, and talk about any concerns, having a relationship with a doctor can be useful. If people want to go to annual physicals, they should go. If they feel okay without having that relationship, that's fine, too.
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Jordan GrossmanFounder of Niaterra News
Most of the science and medical opinion suggests that annual physicals haven't lived up to their hopes and promises when the patient is healthy and has no complaints.
The studies basically are showing that there's a lot of unnecessary and sometimes detrimental activity from your basic annual physical, and they're not effective at detecting anything serious where there's enough time to do anything about it (no matter how much we wish they did).
Clearly, if people have any complaints, questions, concerns, or are due for specific, recommended screenings (e.g. colonoscopies), then going to the doctor is the right thing to do. Doctors will still play an important role in people's health, obviously.
Maybe one day, tests will be accurate and complete enough that basic screening activities can result in more effective outcomes. But that day is not today.
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Catherine Thorbecke
It seems from most of the articles that annual physicals are not necessary IF you are overall a healthy person and lead a healthy lifestyle. The BMJ article at the top clearly stated that annual physicals do not necessarily lead to longevity or reduce mortality. Time is a very valuable resource, if you are young and healthy going to a physical could simply be a waste of time. That said, many of these studies referenced above refer to healthy individuals and the evidence seems to suggest that annual physicals are not necessary for this set of people as long as they are symptom-less. An older age group (60years+), people who have predisposed genetics to certain diseases, and generally unhealthy people, however, are not a part of many of these studies and should not be dissuaded from preventative care, as they might actually benefit from annual physicals.
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