Objective: To clarify the latest health checkup status and background of obtaining a health checkup among middle-aged people with a national health insurance.
Methods: The subjects were 40-59 years old and living in three districts of the Kyushu region. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews about health consciousness, attendance status, and thoughts on the health checkups. The data were qualitatively analyzed, coded, and categorized.
Results: Among ten subjects, five out of eight attendants underwent the health checkups passively. From the data gathered as the background of obtaining a health checkup, we have the following seven categories: 1) Thoughts about way of life, 2) Awareness of physical condition, 3) Impacts of threats from surroundings, 4) Thoughts about health and prevention, 5) Experience related to past medical examinations, 6) Easiness of visitation and 7) Thoughts about the health checkups.
Conclusion: The inhabitants had their own value to health approach and maintenance, which they discovered through their own, their friends’, or family members’ experiences. Our study suggests the need for community health professionals to encourage residents to perceive the life-threatening events happening around them with a sense of ownership, and to provide new and useful feedback after checkup.
