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Although many adults go to the doctor's office for a routine visit during the course of a year, men and women aren't making these appointments in equal numbers.
Hi, I'm Dr. Cindy Haines, host of HealthDay TV.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recently studied how often adults visited their health-care providers for routine care. These visits were defined as visits to check a patient's overall health and not usually prompted by a specific complaint.
[http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data\_files/publications/st284/stat284.pdf]
The agency found that in 2007, nearly 74 percent of women had made an appointment for routine care during the previous year, compared to about 57 percent of men.
According to the agency, men may need screenings for different problems or at different ages, depending on whether or not they have certain risk factors.
These include regular screenings for high cholesterol, usually starting at age 35; high blood pressure at least every two years; colorectal cancer, usually starting at age 50; testing for diabetes in men with high blood pressure or high cholesterol; and screening for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections if needed. The agency also recommends that men between the ages of 65 and 75 who have ever smoked should be screened once for abdominal aortic aneurysm.
I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the news that doctors are reading; health news that matters to you.
