Background: A small number of preventive services are recommended for all adults ages 65 years and older. It is well established that the combined delivery or being “up to date” on these measures is low. However, the effect of routine checkups on being up to date is not known. We examined the association between routine checkups and the delivery of a group of recommended clinical preventive services for US adults ages 65 and older.
Methods: In 2006 the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System conducted telephone surveys. Participants ages 65 years and older were randomly selected in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Sample sizes were 32,243 male respondents and 58,762 female respondents. A composite measure was used that includes screening for colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers, and vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcal disease. The measure quantifies the percentage of adults who are up to date according to recommended schedules.
Results: Most adults ages 65 and older were fully insured, had a personal health care provider, reported no cost barrier to seeing a doctor in the past year, and had recently received a routine checkup. Associations between high health care access and checkups and the increased likelihood of being up to date on clinical preventive services were statistically significant. Although a large percentage of the population had high access to care and reported having a recent checkup, the percentage of all those who were up to date was low, and it was only slightly greater for those with high access or a recent checkup (42.6%, 45.1%, and 44.8%, respectively, for men; 35.2%, 37.0%, and 36.8%, respectively for women). For both sexes, the results varied by education, race/ethnicity, marriage, insurance, health, and state.
Conclusions: Our study indicates that increasing the use of routine medical checkups will have a negligible impact on the delivery of preventive services.