Publication:

A study on the utility of preventive health check-up in early detection of disease states

Background Because of the current lifestyle and food habits, people are becoming more vulnerable to many diseases like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and coronary artery disease. Early detection of disease in its latent phase helps in timely therapeutic interventions, thereby significantly reducing the morbidity and mortality. Preventive health check-up is widely adopted by many hospitals towards this goal. The aim of the study was to analyze the utility of master health check-up in early detection of disease states.

Methods Retrospective study of 262 asymptomatic individuals attending Master Health Checkup section was done. Patients with significant symptoms were excluded. Descriptive analysis was used in the processing and analysis of data.

Results In the study population, 12.8% had diabetic range of blood sugar values and 21.7% had BP in the hypertensive range. Dyslipidemia was detected in 89.2% of asymptomatic individuals. Thyroid function abnormalities were detected in 10.7% of the population. Among other newly detected diseases, detection rates were 40.9% for NAFLD, 4.2% for renal impairment and 26.7% for anemia.

Conclusions The study results are encouraging to educate the society to utilize preventive health services, as significant number of disease states were newly detected in the preventive health check-up.