Periodic health monitoring revisited

Abstract

Earlier in this series, I discussed the concept of periodic health monitoring, which is a lifetime “package” of preventive health services targeted to special problems that arise in a specific sex or age-group. The periodic-health-monitoring concept is an attempt to overhaul and update the worn-out mainstay of the physician's armamentarium—the annual physical examination. I included sample periodic-health-screening plans for the 60-to-75 and 75-and-over age-groups. Readers responded with requests for recommendations for the other age-groups and for suggestions on how to implement the periodic-health-monitoring concept in their practice. This article updates information on periodic health monitoring and includes my recommendations for the other age-groups.