Many tests in annual health check up are not necessary, says study
Posted on: 20/Sep/2016 9:18:33 AM
A new study that appeared in the National Medical Journal of India has shown that most tests included in an annual health check up don`t really have a bearing on the overall health of an individual.
According to the authors of the study, Routine health check-ups as practised in urban India are counterproductive as far as community health is concerned. There is no rationale for performing tests such as vitamin D, vitamin B12, thyroid stimulating hormone, electrolytes, and pulmonary function tests, among others. Most hospitals offered health checks because they felt it was a way to increase admissions.
The study looked at health packages costing between Rs 1,650 to Rs 59,500 and concluded that apart from financial and resource burden, many led to over-diagnosis and over-treatment, psychological distress due to false-positive test results, harm from invasive follow-up tests, and false reassurance due to false-negative test results.
A senior liver surgeon says, Patients say a health check showed gallstones and they were advised to remove the stones or the gall bladder. When I tell them that non-symptomatic stones should be left alone, many are not convinced.
