Attitudes and Factors Determining the Practice of Routine Medical Checkups in the People of Rawalpindi, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Routine medical checkup (RMC) is a screening and preventive technique that is implied to detect non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study aims to assess the awareness in public regarding RMC, the association between education level and level of familiarity regarding RMC, and factors that prevent and encourage the practice of RMC by the public. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Health professionals and individuals who refused to consent were excluded from the study. Data was collected using a mixed-mode questionnaire, and convenient sampling was used. The sample size was calculated to be 355 according to the WHO sample size calculator. A total of 356 individuals participated in this study after giving informed consent. Both male and female adults aged 18 or older and residents of Rawalpindi were included in the study. Individuals younger than 18 were excluded. Results: Among the 356 study participants, 160 (45%) were males, and 196 (55%) were females. The mean age was 27.57±10.027. Among the total participants, 33 (9.3%) individuals had primary-level education, 100 (28.1%) individuals had secondary-level education, and 233 (62.6%) had graduate-level education. A total of 329 (92.9%) participants knew that RMCs could help in early diagnosis and treatment. On the contrary, only 154 (43.3%) people knew that RMCs involve screening all body tissues. Only 329 (92.4%) participants said that they were aware that timely diagnosis through RMC can lead to early treatment. Graduates were generally more aware of different aspects of RMCs, especially in the domains of awareness regarding what an RMC is and that RMC can help in timely diagnosis compared to participants who had primary or secondary level of education (p<0.001). Females had a greater overall awareness of RMCs than males (p<0.001). Graduates were more likely to undergo RMCs than people educated till the primary or secondary level (p<0.001). The most common reason for undergoing RMC was “just concerned about health,” which was selected by 130 (36.5%) participants. The most common reason mentioned by participants for not having an RMC was ''heavy cost,'' mentioned by 104 (29.2%) participants. Conclusion: Most of the participants of this study were well educated and were students in terms of profession. The majority of the study population knew that RMCs could help in early diagnosis and treatment. Awareness regarding RMCs was linked to educational level. Females had overall better knowledge regarding RMCs than men. The most common reported reason to have an RMC was a health concern, and the most common reported reason for not having an RMC was its high cost.