Periodic Medical Checkup among Health Workers at a Teaching Hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: Periodic medical checkup is an essential component of preventive medicine and health promotion. Assessing the knowledge, perception and practice of health care professional on routine medical checkup set the tone for the general public. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 health care personnel, nurses, doctors and medical laboratory scientist, using a convenience sampling method, to assess their practice of periodic medical checkup. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire, with questions classified under demographics, knowledge, perception and practice. Data processing was carried out using Microsoft excel. Data was checked, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science, SPSS version 21. Results: The study found a high prevalence of knowledge among the participants. There was, at least, above 90% on all questionnaire items assessing knowledge. Similarly, participants exhibited a positive perception towards medical checkups. 98.7% said medical checkups are important whilst 99.0% said they would encourage the practice of periodic medical checkup. Prevalence of periodic medical checkup was 91.0%. Most of the participants recommended medical checkups be covered by health insurance whilst health facilities should also ensure an annual examination of its staffs. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of medical checkup among health care personnel at the teaching hospital under study, positive attitude as well as a high level of knowledge regarding the practice.