What do academicians know about periodic health examinations?

Background. A periodic health examination is a regular health check program for healthy people who have not yet demonstrated a disease.

Objectives. Evaluation of the level of knowledge, perception and status of action for periodic health examinations of academicians at Cukurova University.

Material and methods. Our sample was 392 academicians at Cukurova University. The participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire (9 items), a questionnaire for knowledge on periodic health examinations (19 items), a questionnaire for perception of periodic health examinations (27 items) and a questionnaire about visits to have a periodic health examinations (24 items). The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical analysis program.

Results. Of the participants, 143 (69.8%) were from the Faculty of Medicine, and 62 (30.2%) were from the Faculty of Agriculture (205 participants). The average age was 49.5 ± 9.2 years. Of the participants, 56.4% (116) were male, 26.9% (54) were smokers, 74.2% (152) were consuming alcoholic drinks, 25.3% (52) were doing regular exercise, 38.7% (24) were eating/drinking healthily. Participants who evaluated their overall health status as ‘moderate’ were more willing to undergo screening tests, 76% (156) said that they had measured their body mass index, 82.4% (169) had their blood lipid levels checked, and 94.1% (193) had their blood pressure measured. As the age of participants increased, the frequency of blood pressure measurement increased. Of the female participants, 52.3% (46) has had a Pap smear, and 48.9% (43) had undergone a mammography.

Conclusions. The low rate of periodic health examinations suggests that family physicians have more to do to increase the awareness levels of even highly educated individuals about the benefits of periodic health examinations.