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Perception and practice of routine medical check-up by tertiary health

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Article  in  International Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Research · August 2018

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International Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Research
Volume 6 Issue 3 September – December 2017
www.ijmbr.com
© Oguntoye et al.; licensee Michael Joanna Publications

Original Paper Open Access

Perception and practice of routine medical check-up by health

workers at a tertiary health facility in South-West Nigeria
1* 1 2
Oguntoye O.O , Yusuf M , Durowade K.A
1
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
2
Department of Community Medicine, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author: proflast@yahoo.com

Received: 14.03.17; Accepted: Accepted: 27.10.17; Published: 03.08.18

ABSTRACT

Background: Routine medical check-up is the periodic medical evaluation of

apparently healthy individuals with the view to detect abnormalities. Aim: This
study investigated the perception and practice of routine medical check-up by
health workers at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria. Methods: A
structured questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic data and
responses of 184 consenting members of staff of the institution on the subject
matter. Results: A total of 184 respondents participated in the study; 101
(54.9%) males and 83 (45.1%) females. The age range of the participants was
22–63years with a mean (±SD) of 35.73±7.718. The respondents include 88
(47.8%) doctors, 10 (5.4%) pharmacists, 43 (23.4%) nurses and 43 (23.4%)
other health workers. All the 184(100%) respondents knew about routine medical
check-up and its potential benefits and 170 (92.4%) of them had actually had a
medical check-up done before. Only 61 (35.9%) of them had it done for pre-
employment purpose while the rest did it for other reasons. One hundred and
twenty six (74.1%) out of the 170 respondents who had had a check-up done
repeated the check regularly and 58 (34.1%) of them were subsequently referred
to a specialist based on abnormal results. Conclusions: The level of awareness
and practice of routine medical check-up is remarkably high among health
workers. This is useful in assessing the baseline health indices of individuals as
well as for early detection of abnormalities which may not be symptomatic, hence
preventing the burden of the diseases that would have otherwise resulted.

Key words: Preventive medicine, morbidity and mortality, health workers,

medical check-up, occupational health, infectious diseases

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons Attribution 4.0 licence
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers
INTRODUCTION
Routine medical check-up is the periodic
medical evaluation of apparently healthy
individuals with the view to detect
[1] “
abnormalities. It is also known as periodic
health evaluation, annual
physical, comprehensive medical exam, general
health check or preventive health
[2]
examination”. The purpose of routine medical
check-up is to evaluate the health status of
asymptomatic individuals who have no known
health problems, to screen for risk factors and
diseases in them, and to provide preventive
counseling and interventions in an age-
[2]
appropriate manner. Routine medical check-
up is expected to be performed on a regular
basis by all apparently healthy individuals
including health care workers.
Health care workers are individuals involved with
patient care in various health establishments
and affiliates and they include doctors,
physiotherapists, pharmacists, medical
laboratory scientists, nurses, radiographers,
public/community health professionals, health
[3]
attendants and other allied health workers.
Health care workers are equally at risk of
developing various medical conditions like other
members of the general population and so they
also require periodic medical evaluation.
Routine medical check-up provides the
opportunity to evaluate individuals’ health status
in their healthy states. Any departure from the
normal is a good pointer of disease process
onset and the results obtained can also be used
for follow-up studies. Early identification of
abnormalities in asymptomatic individuals
through routine medical check-up will aid prompt
intervention if need be, thus preventing or
reducing associated attendant complications.
This would reduce the overall morbidity and
mortality associated with various disease
conditions.
Unfortunately, health care services are usually
only sought for after an escalation of the
[4]
complaints of illness. The possible factors that
can influence the utilization of health care
services have been documented amongst
different groups in the literature and these
Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162
152
include socio-demographic factors, income,
access to health insurance and accessibility to
[5-14]
health care facility.
The fact that health care workers work in a
health facility where the human resources and
facilities for a medical check-up are available,
the fact that health care workers are more
knowledgeable than the general public about
health matters and the importance of disease
prevention, and the fact that they also have
ready access to health insurance should
ordinarily translate into a better health care
utilization in comparison with the general public.
This may remain an assumption and may not
truly be the case unless a study is conducted to
prove this hypothesis. There is however paucity
of information on the utilization of health
services by health care workers in Nigerian
health institutions.
Therefore, there is a need to look into how
health care workers make use of the services
they provide. This study investigated the
perception and practice of routine medical
check-up by health care workers at the Federal
Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria. It also
determined the opinion of the respondents about
compulsory pre-employment medical check-up.
This study provided the much needed
information as well as scientific data for further
research.
METHODOLOGY
Selection of study subjects
This was a cross-sectional study that was
carried out at the Federal Teaching Hospital,
Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti state in the South Western
geopolitical zone of Nigeria between January
2016 and June 2016. The inclusion criteria for
this study consisted of members of staff of the
institution who belong to one health related
professional or non-professional group who
have contact with patients. This includes
doctors, nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory
scientists, physiotherapists, health attendants,
community health extension workers and other
allied health workers who must have given
written informed consent to be recruited.
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers
The following categories of people were
excluded from the study; those who were not
members of staff, patients, students,
administrative staff and other support staff. A
total of 184 study subjects were recruited for the
study. Selection of subjects for the study was by
consecutive selection of consenting individuals.
Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics
and Research Committee of the institution.
Evaluation of study subjects
A structured questionnaire was designed for the
study which was used to collect the
demographic data and the responses of the
participants on the subject matter. The subjects
were initially interviewed to ensure that they
fulfill the set inclusion criteria for the study. The
nature and scope of the research was explained
to the subjects and a written informed consent
was obtained before they were recruited. All the
participants understood English and there was
no need for translation.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all the
study participants and Ethical Approval was
obtained from the Ethics and Research
Committee of the institution.
Statistical analysis
The data obtained was analyzed using the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS) version 21.0 computer software
package (SPSS Chicago Inc. IL U.S.A).
Descriptive statistics used included frequency
tables, means and standard deviations. The
statistical significance of the findings was
determined using appropriate statistical tests.
2
The non-parametric test, chi-square (χ ) test,
was employed for the analysis of qualitative
variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 was
considered as statistically significant.
RESULTS
A total of 184 respondents participated in the
study; 101 (54.9%) males and 83 (45.1%)
females. The age range of the participants was
22–63years with a mean (±SD) of 35.73±7.718.
Majority (74.5%) of the respondents attained
tertiary level of education, 22.8% had
postgraduate education while only 2.7% had just
secondary education. Most of the respondents
Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162
153
were doctors (47.8%) while nurses constitute
23.4% of the participants. The other socio-
demographic characteristics are as shown on
table 1.
Table 2 describes the general knowledge of the
respondents about routine medical check-up. All
(100%) the participants knew about routine
medical check-up and their source of knowledge
being the respective academic/professional
training they received while 51.1% believe that it
should be done every 6months, 46.2% were of
the opinion that it should be done yearly.
Majority were of the opinion that blood pressure
check, blood glucose check, urinalysis and lipid
profile tests should be part of routine medical
check-up. Half (50%) of the respondents believe
that medical check-up should be funded by the
employer, 31.0% feels it should be by the
individual while 19.0% believe it should by
health insurance.
When asked about the benefits of routine
medical check-up, the respondents gave
multiple perceived benefits: 78.8% believe that it
can help to detect undiagnosed diseases, 66.3%
believe that it can detect risk factors for
diseases, 56.5% believe that it promotes
longevity while 60.9% believe that it can prevent
untimely or sudden death.
The attitude of the respondents towards routine
medical check-up was also determined in this
study. A total of 92.4% (170 out of 184) of the
respondents had gone for a routine medical
check-up, 81.2% of whom had it done because
they believe it is important for their health while
35.9% had a medical check-up done for pre-
employment purpose, 8.2% had it done for travel
purpose, 19.0% had it pre-marital reasons and
1.6% had it done based on the advice of a
health worker. The remaining 14 (7.6%)
respondents who had never had a medical
check-up done gave various reasons which
included; “I consider myself healthy” (64.3%), “I
just never thought about it” (50.0%), “I don’t
have enough money” (28.6%), and “I just don’t
have time for it” (21.4%).
Table 3 depicts the perception and attitude of
the respondents towards compulsory pre-
employment medical screening. 83.2% (153 out
of 184) of the respondents believe that pre-
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers
employment medical screening should be
compulsory while the remaining 16.8% (31
respondents) do not believe it should be
compulsory and their reasons are as shown in
table 3. There was a statistically significant
relationship between the level of education (p <
0.001) and the designation (p= 0.006) of the
respondents and their attitude towards
compulsory pre-employment medical screening
as shown in Table 4. There was no such
significant relationship in the age, sex, religion or
tribe of the respondents (table 4).
Table 5 depicts the practice of routine medical
check-up by the respondents. 33.7% of the
respondents undergo routine medical check-up
every 6months and 34.8% every year. For
dental check-up, 22.8% undergo it every
6months while 20.6% undergo it every year. The
frequency of blood pressure and blood glucose
checks is as shown on table 5.
The experience of the respondents during
routine medical check-up is shown on Table 6.
More than three-quarters (78.2%) of the
respondents who had had a routine medical
check-up done had it done in a tertiary hospital
while only 9.4% had theirs done in a primary
health centre. Majority (88.8%) of the
respondents funded their medical check-up bill
by themselves while 16.5% had theirs funded by
their employers and so they didn’t have to pay
for the tests. The range of the estimated
expense of the medical check-up was N0 –
N30,000 with a mean±SD of
N5,233.00±5,725.00.
The various tests done during the check-up are
as shown on table 6. Blood pressure check,
fasting plasma glucose and urinalysis were the
most common tests done during the medical
check-ups with a frequency of 65.3%, 51.8%
and 40.0% respectively. All the 170 (100%)
respondents who had had a medical check-up
done found the obtained results beneficial; 58
(34.1%) of whom were referred to see a
specialist based on the results of their tests
while the remaining 112 (65.9%) did not require
any specialist consultation. Forty (69.0%) of
those referred to see a specialist were very
regular with their clinic appointments, 14
(24.1%) were fairly regular while 4 (6.9%) were
not regular. Figure 1 depicts the major infections
Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162
154
the respondents had been screened for. 89.1%
(164) had been screened for HIV, 81.5% (150)
for Hepatitis B virus and only 42.4% (78) for
Hepatitis C virus infections.
DISCUSSION
All the respondents in this study were aware of
the importance of routine medical check-up and
its potential benefits. This can largely be
attributed to the fact that majority of the
respondents were educated, having up to
tertiary level of education and beyond. Another
reason is because this study was conducted
among health workers in a tertiary health
institution and these are people who are at the
forefront of medical care and are very
knowledgeable about the importance of
preventive medicine which is what routine
medical check-up is all about, to identify the risk
factors of diseases early before they manifest or
cause complications. Routine medical check-up
helps to detect undiagnosed diseases, promotes
longevity and prevents sudden or untimely
death.
The respondents being health care workers who
are knowledgeable could explain why majority of
them had a medical check-up done before in the
past (92.4%) for various reasons. Majority of
them had the check-up done based on their
personal belief that it is important for their health
(81.2%) as against the other major reason which
was that of pre-employment purpose (35.9%).
This means that pre-employment medical
screening rate is low among the respondents,
which may be due to the fact that the health
institution in which they are working did not
make it compulsory or the institution does not
have in place an effective pre-employment
medical screening programme for her staff.
Even though majority of the respondents
(83.2%) believe that pre-employment medical
screening should be compulsory for various
good reasons, only some of the respondents
actually had their medical check-up done for
pre-employment purpose (35.9%). The fear of
stigmatization or job loss if found unfit were
some of the reasons given by the respondents
who oppose compulsory pre-employment
medical screening.
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 1: Socio–demographic characteristics of respondents

Variable Frequency Percentage
N = 184 (%)
Age group (in years)
Less than 30 37 20.1
30 – 34 54 29.3
35 – 39 29 15.8
40 – 44 39 21.2
45 and above 25 13.6
Mean age ± SD 35.73 ± 7.718
Range 22 - 63
Sex
Male 101 54.9
Female 83 45.1
Marital Status
Single 55 29.9
Married 123 66.8
Divorced/ Separated 6 3.3
Level of Education
Secondary 5 2.7
Tertiary 137 74.5
Post - graduate 42 22.8
Religion
Christianity 171 92.9
Islam 13 7.1
Tribe
Yoruba 159 86.4
Hausa 4 2.2
Igbo 11 6.0
Other 10 5.4
Designation
Consultant 23 12.5
Resident 39 21.2
Medical Officer 26 14.1
Pharmacist 10 5.4
MLS 8 4.3
Physiotherapist 4 2.2
Radiographer 5 2.7
Nurse 43 23.4
Comm. Health Ext. Worker (CHEW) 10 5.4
Medical Record Officer 7 3.8
Health Attendant 5 2.7
Other (Not specified) 4 2.2
MLS: Medical Laboratory Scientist

Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162

155
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 2: General knowledge of respondents about routine medical check – up

Variable Frequency Percentage
N = 184 (%)
Do you know about medical check – up?
Yes 184 100.0
Source of knowledge
Through training 184 100.0
How routinely should it be done
Every 6 months 94 51.1
Yearly 85 46.2
Every 2 years 3 1.6
Every 3 years 2 1.1
What are the tests involved in routine medical check – up #
Blood pressure check 168 91.3
Blood glucose check 162 88.0
Urinalysis 150 81.5
Fasting lipid profile 142 77.2
Mammography 128 69.2
Pap smear 115 62.5
Prostate Specific Antigen 111 60.3
Chest X – ray 100 54.3
Electrocardiography 105 57.1
Others** 59 32.1
Dental check – up should be done
Every 6 months 114 62.0
Yearly 64 34.8
Every 2 years 6 3.2
Eye examination should be done
Yearly 152 82.6
Every 2 years 30 16.3
Every 3 years 2 1.1
Blood pressure check should be done
Yearly 164 89.1
Every 2 years 20 10.9
Cholesterol check should be done
Every 6 month 64 34.8
Yearly 108 58.7
Every 2 years 12 6.5
Blood glucose level should be done
Monthly 65 35.3
Every 6 months 85 46.2
Yearly 34 18.5
#Multiple response
**The “others” include HIV(Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HBsAg(Hepatitis B surface antigen), Anti-
HCV(Hepatitis C Virus), E,U&Cr(Electrolytes, Urea and Creatinine) and FBC(Full Blood Count).

Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162

156
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 3: Respondents’ perception and attitude towards compulsory pre–employment medical

screening
Variable Frequency Percentage
N = 184 (%)
Pre – employment medical screening should be compulsory
Yes 153 83.2
No 31 16.8
Main reason, if yes (n = 153)
It may be the only opportunity one has 14 9.2
It helps to know health status 87 56.8
It helps to have a fit work force 22 14.4
It helps to prevent transmission of infections 23 15.0
It helps the employer in rightful job allocations 7 4.6
Main reason, if no (n = 31)
There should be freedom of choice 12 38.7
It can cause stigmatization if found unfit 9 29.0
Employee may lose his/her job if found unfit 5 16.1
It is not necessary 3 9.7
It is stressful 2 6.5

Figure 1: Bar chart showing the major infections the respondents had been screened for
(N = 184)

Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162

157
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 4: Relationship between the socio–demographic characteristics of the respondents and

their attitude towards compulsory pre–employment medical screening
Pre – employment medical –
screening should be compulsory

Yes No
2
n = 153 n = 31 ᵪ p
Age group (in years)
Less than 30 29 (78.4) 8 (21.6) 3.356 0.500
30 – 34 44 (81.5) 10 (18.5)
35 – 39 26 (89.7) 3 (10.3)
40 – 44 31 (79.5) 8 (20.5)
45 and above 23 (92.0) 2 (8.0)
Sex
Male 85 (84.2) 16 (15.8) 0.162 0.687
Female 68 (81.9) 15 (18/.1)
Marital Status
Single 41 (74.5) 14 (25.5) 4.203 0.122
Married 107 (87.0) 16 (13.0)
Divorced/ Separated 5 (83.3) 1 (16.7)
Level of Education
Secondary 1 (20.0) 4 (80.0) 18.805 <0.001
Tertiary 112 (81.8) 25 (18.2)
Post - graduate 40 (95.2) 2 (4.8)
Religion
Christianity 142 (83.0) 29 (17.0) 0.021 0.884
Islam 11 (84.6) 2 (15.4)
Tribe
Yoruba 132 (83.0) 27 (17.0) 3.947 0.267
Hausa 2 (50.0) 2 (50.0)
Igbo 10 (90.9) 1 (9.1)
Other 9 (90.0) 1 (10.0)
Designation
Consultant 22 (95.7) 1 (4.3) 26.188 0.006
Resident 37 (94.9) 2 (5.1)
Medical Officer 20 (76.9) 6 (23.1)
Pharmacist 9 (90.0) 1 (10.0)
MLS 6 (75.30) 2 (25.0)
Physiotherapist 3 (75.0) 1 (25.0)
Radiographer 4 (80.0) 1 (20.0)
Nurse 36 (83.7) 7 (16.3)
Comm. Health Ext. Worker (CHEW) 8 (80.0) 2 (20.0)
Medical Record Officer 5(71.4) 2(28.6)
Health Attendant 1 (20.0) 4 (80.0)
Other 2 (50.0) 2 (50.0)

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158
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 5: Respondents’ practice of routine medical check – up

Variable Frequency Percentage
N = 184 (%)
Do you even think it is important to do routine medical check – up
Yes 184 100.0
How often do you go for medical check – up
Every 6 months 62 33.7
Yearly 64 34.8
Every 2 years 7 3.8
Every 3 years 1 0.5
I don’t do it routinely 50 27.2
How often do you go for dental check up
Every 6 months 42 22.8
Yearly 38 20.6
Every 2 years 11 6.0
Every 3 years 11 6.0
I don’t do it routinely 82 44.6
How often do you check your blood pressure
Less than 6 monthly 25 13.6
Every 6 months 96 52.2
Yearly 14 7.6
Every 2 years 2 1.1
Every 3 years 1 0.5
I don’t do it routinely 46 25.0
How often do you check your blood glucose
Less than 6 monthly 9 4.9
Every 6 months 73 39.7
Yearly 55 29.9
Every 2 years 2 1.1
Every 3 years 2 1.1
I don’t do it routinely 43 23.4

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159
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers

Table 6: Respondents’ experience during routine medical check–up

Variable Frequency Percentage
N = 170 (%)
Where was the check – up done? **
Private hospital 27 15.9
Primary health centre 16 9.4
Secondary health centre 19 11.2
Tertiary hospital 133 78.2
Who funded it? **
Personal 151 88.8
Employer 28 16.5
NGO 1 0.6
Others 2 1.1
Estimated cost
Free 25 14.7
Less than N5, 000 74 43.5
N5, 000 - < N10, 000 30 17.6
N10,000 - < N15,000 24 14.1
N 15,000 and above 17 9.2
Mean cost ± SD N 5,233.0 ± 5,725.0
Range N 0 – N 30,000
Tests done during the check – up**
Chest X-Ray 68 40.0
FBC 42 24.7
BP 111 65.3
Urinalysis 68 40.0
ECG 29 17.1
FPG 88 51.8
Genotype 24 14.1
E,U&Cr 22 12.9
Spirometry 10 5.9
FLP 17 10.0
Echocardiography 9 5.3
Eye examination 13 7.6
Dental check 5 2.9
Mammography 8 4.7
Others 16 8.7
KEY: NGO- Non-Governmental Organization, ECG- Electrocardiography, BP- Blood Pressure, FBC-
Full Blood Count, FPG- Fasting Plasma Glucose, E,U&Cr- Electrolytes, Urea and Creatinine, FLP-
Fasting Lipid Profile.
**Multiple response

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160
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers
[1]
Akande et al. in a study in 2004 at the
University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin,
Nigeria on 274 hospital workers on the practice
of periodic medical examination, reported that
82.8% of them had had a medical examination
done since being employed in the hospital.
20.6% of them had the medical examination
done for pre-employment purpose and only
14.1% of them had a pre-employment medical
examination done before assumption of duty.
This pre-employment screening rate obtained
12years ago is much lower than what was
obtained in this study.
[15]
In another study by Opeodu et al. in 2014 at
the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
on 110 members of staff in the dental clinic on
the practice of comprehensive medical check-
up. 58.1% of the respondents had their medical
check-up done as part of a mandatory pre-
employment requirement while 27.6% had it
done as a result of personal concern for their
health.
In this study, the respondents with a higher level
of education and designation were strongly in
support of compulsory pre-employment medical
screening and this was found to be statistically
significant. Consultants are the highest in rank
among health care workers, they have
postgraduate qualifications that make them the
most knowledgeable and experienced health
personnel and this explains the reason why they
value the importance of compulsory pre-
employment medical screening more than the
other health workers.
The respondents have a good knowledge of the
various important tests that should be done
during a routine medical check-up which
includes blood pressure check, blood glucose
check, lipid profile, urinalysis,
electrocardiography, chest radiograph, serology
(HBsAg, Anti-HCV and HIV), electrolytes, urea
and creatinine, prostate specific antigen (for
males), mammography and pap smear (for
females). These tests are expected to be done
every 6months to 1year. Eye examination and
dental check-up are believed to be part of
routine medical check-up. However, only some
of these tests were done by the respondents at
the time of their check-up and only some had
Int J Med Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162
161
the tests done regularly as required. This could
be due to the cost implication of some of the
tests which would make the respondents to
perform only those they can afford and if found
to be normal they may not wish to repeat the
tests regularly as required. Another reason could
be due to lack of a standard protocol of the tests
expected to be done during a routine medical
check-up at the institution where the check-up
was done.
In this study majority of the respondents had
their check-up done in a tertiary hospital and it
was funded mostly through out of pocket
payment since the average estimated cost from
this study was N5,233 which is relatively not too
expensive.
It is interesting to note from this study that
majority of the respondents had been screened
in the past for HIV infection much more than
Hepatitis B virus infection and to a much lesser
extent Hepatitis C virus infection. This is a
reflection of the level of awareness of the
respondents, a sub-set of the larger society,
about these viruses. The awareness campaign
in Nigeria for HIV infection is much more than for
the other viruses, despite the fact that the
Hepatitis B virus is far much more prevalent in
Nigeria than HIV and it is also much more highly
infectious and causes more morbidity and
mortality than HIV. It is also vaccine preventable
and HIV is not.
In this study, all the respondents who had had a
medical check-up done found the obtained
results beneficial and some of them were
consequently referred to a specialist based on
the findings. This further confirms the
importance of a routine medical check-up in
diagnosing disease conditions for which
individuals may not yet be symptomatic thereby
preventing or reducing the morbidity and
mortality that could have resulted.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Early identification of abnormalities in
asymptomatic individuals through routine
medical check-up will aid prompt intervention if
need be, thus preventing or reducing attendant
 Oguntoye et al.: Routine medical check-up by health workers
complications that could have ensued. This
would reduce the overall morbidity and mortality
associated with different disease entities and
improvement in the health related quality of life
and the overall well-being of individuals. Routine
medical check-up is a useful avenue for
assessing the baseline health indices of
individuals. It is extremely beneficial and should
be encouraged.
Awareness about the importance of routine
medical check-up amongst health workers is
remarkably high but it may not be so in the
general population, therefore there is a need for
a community based study and public
enlightenment on this topic. Pre-employment
medical screening should be made compulsory
for all employees by their employers without
constituting a financial burden on them by
ensuring that they are all enrolled under the
national health insurance scheme.
Facilities for a routine medical check-up should
also be made available at secondary and
possibly primary health facilities and individuals
who have established abnormal results should
be referred to the appropriate specialist for
further evaluation and care. Finally, there is also
a need to further enhance public awareness
about the Hepatitis B virus which is vaccine
preventable and highly prevalent in Nigeria.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Special thanks to the House Officers and Residents of
Internal Medicine Department for their support towards
making this research a success.
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doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14194/ijmbr.6.3.5
How to cite this article: Oguntoye O.O, Yusuf M,
Durowade K.A. Perception and practice of routine
medical check-up by health workers at a tertiary
health facility in South-West Nigeria. Int J Med
Biomed Res 2017;6(3):151-162.
Conflict of Interest: None declared
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