Cognition, attitude, practice toward health checkup and associated factors among urban residents in southwest China, Sichuan province, 2022: a community-based study

AIM: Research on the health checkup status of urban residents in Southwest China is limited. In this study, we aimed to investigate the current status of health checkups and explore their influencing factors by analyzing the cognition, attitudes, and practices of urban residents in Southwest China. METHODS: We sampled 1200 urban residents for a questionnaire survey. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23, and logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors affecting cognition, attitudes, and practices regarding health checkups. A P value < 0.05 was used to identify variables significantly associated with the outcome variable. RESULTS: Overall, 29% of the residents understood the importance of health checkups. The main ways urban residents acquire health-related knowledge are through the use of mobile media and medical staff health education. Only 40% of residents had undergone a regular checkup. Health self-assessment, economic reasons, and time are the factors that interfere with urban residents’ health checkups. Logistic regression analysis showed that occupation status, educational background, self-assessed health status, exercise status, and monthly income level were the common influencing factors of health checkup cognition and planning. Whether residents had participated in a medical checkup program was also related to sex and age. CONCLUSIONS: Urban residents in Southwest China generally had a high willingness to undergo physical examinations, but there were differences in knowledge and practice; at the same time, residents lacked understanding of respiratory assessments. Improving the health literacy of medical staff, strengthening urban residents’ health education, and enhancing the utilization rate of health checkups in urban residents are necessary and urgent.