A Systematic Review of Health Checkup Items and Abnormal Finding in Annual Health Checkups
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Abstract
Annual health check-ups are a globally supported and prioritized health promotion and disease prevention process aimed at early disease detection. Currently, various tests are utilized in health screenings, with different sets of tests designated. This systematic literature review aims to identify the tests used in health check-ups and determine the prevalence of abnormal findings from general annual health examinations. Research articles were sourced from PubMed and Embase, focusing on observational studies in the general population aged 18 and older. A total of 28,558 articles were found, with 266 meeting the criteria. These studies were published between 1996 and 2022, primarily in Asia (87.6%). Most study participants were aged 18-59.9 years. The analysis identified 44 health check-up tests, categorized into three groups: basic physical examinations, laboratory tests, and specialized instrument-based tests. The most frequently used tests were fasting blood sugar (FBS) measurement (37.22%, 99 studies), abdominal ultrasound (36.09%, 96 studies), and blood pressure measurement (31.2%, 83 studies). Additionally, 75 types of abnormal findings were reported. The most common abnormalities were hyperlipidemia, including high cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, at 31%, 24%, 34%, and 22%, respectively, as well as hypertension (27%). Rare abnormalities (<5%) included elevated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels and abnormal urine findings. However, certain tests, despite their low abnormality detection rates, might still be valuable in health screenings due to the increasing prevalence of related conditions, such as creatinine level, serum uric acid levels, and gastrointestinal endoscopy. This study's findings can help develop more comprehensive health check-up packages, incorporating alternative tests in addition to basic screenings, to enhance future health examinations.
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References
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