Annual check-ups aren't needed, US study says

Annual physical examinations, a staple of medical care in the United States for decades, cost too much and are not necessary for conveying messages on preventing illness, says a new study.

Patients get most messages on prevention through other visits, explains the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2007;167:1876-83). But annual gynaecological exams may be helpful for women, it says.

Ateev Mehrotra and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examined data from 2002, 2003, and 2004 from the US national ambulatory medical care survey and the national hospital ambulatory medical care survey, which record visits made by patients with health …