General Health Checks in Asymptomatic People Don't Lower Mortality or Morbidity

In the U.S. and the U.K., primary care providers commonly conduct general health checks (“physicals”) in asymptomatic people to screen for risk factors and symptoms of previously unrecognized diseases; these exams include history taking and screening tests. However, whether general health checks provide any benefit is unclear. In this meta-analysis, Cochrane investigators determined the effects of general health checks on morbidity and mortality in unselected adults recruited from the general population, primary care practices, and health plans.

Fourteen randomized trials (follow-up, 1–22 years) that involved 183,000 adults were analyzed. A general health check was defined as “screening for more than one disease or risk factor in more than o…