Effect of social activities on health checkups and recommended doctor visits: a fixed-effects analysis in Japan.

Health checkups are considered to promote occupational and public health. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which participation in social activities encourages middle-aged people to participate in health checkups and adhere to doctor-visit recommendations. We analyzed 337,024 longitudinal observational studies involving 33,420 individuals aged 50-59 yr in the baseline year (2005) derived from a nationwide, population-based, 14-wave survey. We estimated fixed-effects logistic models to elucidate how people's participation in health checkups and recommended doctor visits are affected by participation in social activities. Attending health checkups was positively associated with participation in social activities, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.19 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15-1.22) and a marginal effect of 3.3% (95% CI: 2.7%-3.9%). Adherence to doctor-visit recommendations was also positively associated with participation in social activities, with an OR of 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08-1.23) and a marginal effect of 3.3% (95% CI: 1.8%-4.8%), although the association was observed only among regular employees. These results provide new insights into the effectiveness of health checkups.