General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease.

CLINICAL QUESTION

What are the benefits and harms of general health checks for adult populations?

BOTTOM LINE

Compared with usual care, offers of health checks were not associated with lower rates of all-cause mortality, mortality from cardiovascular disease, or mortality from cancer. Health checks may be associated with more diagnoses and more drug treatment. Morbidity was infrequently reported, as were most harms, such as use of diagnostic procedures.