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Health check-up
The health check-up includes a series of medical examinations aimed at identifying potential diseases and their risk factors as early as possible. Since April 2019, these examinations have been offered once every three years under the name ‘Health check-up’ for people aged 35 years and over and once for people aged between 18 and 34 years (former notation ‘Check-up 35’ for people aged 35 years and over and offered once every two years) (G-BA, 2020).
Key messages
- Almost half of the people covered by statutory health insurance have attended a health check-up in the last two years.
- The proportion of eligible people who attended a health check-up in the last two years has decreased slightly.
- Over time, the proportion of women with statutory health insurance who attend health check-ups is consistently higher than that among men.
trend
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cross-section
By state
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By gender
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By age
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By education group
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Results
Between 2015 and 2018, there was a slight reduction in the proportion of people with statutory health insurance who attended a health check-up within the last two years (48.6% vs 47.3%). The proportion of women who attended a health check-up in the last two years fell from 51.0% to 49.8%, whereas the figures for men fell from 45.8% to 44.3%. The percentage of people who attend the offered health examinations increases with age, but decreases again among people aged 80 years or over to 46.9%. Data show that people in Bremen (women: 63.7%; men 55.1%) and Berlin (women: 62.0%; men: 52.0%) have significantly higher rates of uptake compared to Bavaria (women: 43.9%; men: 38.7%) and Baden-Württemberg (women: 36.7%; men: 32.9%).
Conclusion
The proportion of people with statutory health insurance who have attended a health check-up within the last two years has declined slightly over time. Participation increases with age, with women taking significantly more advantage of health check-ups than men on average. However, large differences in the uptake of health check-ups were identified by region. It is important that these differences are taken into account during the development of targeted measures to increase the uptake of health check-ups. Analyses by Hoebel et al. 2013 and Hoebel et al. 2014, which used data from the 2009 and 2010 GEDA studies, found lower uptake of health check-ups to be associated with low socioeconomic status and health risks such as smoking and physical inactivity.