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Public Expectation for Annual Physical Examinations
- Sylvia K. Oboler, MD;
- Allan V. Prochazka, MD; and
- Robert J. Anderson, MD
- Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Denver, CO 80220 University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Denver, CO 80262
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
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IN RESPONSE:
While we generally agree with the points made by Drs. Wool and Poplin, two issues deserve emphasis. First, as we and Laine (1) have noted, annual examinations may have value not only for providing preventive health services not furnished in daily practice but also for enhancing patient–provider relationships. Second, although strategies to enhance provision of appropriate medical services are becoming better defined (2), methods to discourage use of inappropriate services have received less attention. Complex personal, organizational, and market-level influences affect patient preferences and physician practices (3). It is our working hypothesis that a greater understanding of these influences could lead to an effective approach to limit inappropriate annual examinations. For example, a greater understanding of the complex influences underlying inappropriate antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections has resulted in effective strategies to limit such use (4).
Dr. Mukohara suggests that our survey may have overestimated public desire for an annual examination. Dr. Mukohara is correct that we did not give patients a choice as to whether they preferred a case-finding approach versus an annual approach for their preventive health services. However, since we explicitly asked each respondent to provide a yes or no answer about whether they felt the need for an annual checkup, we doubt that our results significantly overestimated public desire for such a checkup. Our study was not designed to address patient preference (case finding vs. annual examination) for provision of health services.
Sylvia K. Oboler, MD
Allan V. Prochazka, MD
Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Denver, CO 80220
Robert J. Anderson, MD
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Denver, CO 80262
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
