What is the difference between preventive care and physical examination?

The core difference is actually that the nodes of action are completely different - physical examination is a "regular snapshot" of health status, and the goal is to find abnormal indicators that have emerged or are even hidden under the water.； Preventive health care is a "health protection network" that runs through daily life, with the purpose of reducing the possibility of abnormalities from the root cause.

I have been doing public health education in a community health service center for almost 8 years. I have met too many residents who confuse the two. It is funny to say that many people either think that "if the physical examination is normal every year, they can make a living", or they think that "there is no need to spend unjust money on physical examinations if you maintain health every day." There are many people who fall into this trap. Last winter, I met Sister Zhang, who lives in Building 3. She is 42 years old. The annual physical examination package provided by her workplace is quite high-end, including all tumor markers and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular screenings. All the indicators have been green for three consecutive years. She feels that there is nothing wrong with her body. She usually likes to meet up with friends to eat hot pot and drink cold beer after get off work. She often watches short videos until one or two o'clock. At the end of the year, she suddenly became dizzy and couldn't stand and was sent to the emergency room. She was diagnosed with lacunar cerebral infarction. The doctor said that her blood pressure had already been at the critical value of fluctuating due to her long-term high-salt diet and staying up late. It was just that the value measured during the physical examination was within the normal range. If she had paid a little attention to the health care intervention of her diet and rest, she would never have reached this point.

There are also people who go to the other extreme. Aunt Li, who is 61 years old in the same community, is a believer in various health care classes. She never fails to take moxibustion, foot soaking, and imported nutrients. She says that she has done a good job in health care. She has not participated in the community’s free elderly physical examination for four consecutive years. Last month, she felt a lump in her left breast and came for an examination. It was already breast cancer in situ. In fact, if she had come for a physical examination the year before last, she would have been able to detect the 2mm nodule. If she had intervened at that time, it would not have turned malignant at all.

In fact, to use an inappropriate analogy, a physical examination is like the general cleaning you do at home every six months. It can sweep out the dust in every corner and the cockroach nests hidden behind the cabinets.； Preventive health care means wiping the table after eating, throwing away garbage every day, and collecting snack bags after eating in time to reduce the possibility of dust and cockroaches from the source. Nowadays, academic circles have been discussing whether more preventive care dimensions should be included in the assessment of routine physical examinations. In the past two years, our community physical examination packages have also added assessment questionnaires on dietary structure, exercise habits, and sleep quality. The reports issued to residents after the physical examination will also be accompanied by personalized health care suggestions. The boundary between the two is actually slowly becoming blurred, but the core positioning is still very clear now.

Residents often ask me which of the two is more important, and I always smile and say which one is more important. Just like when you go out on a rainy day, you should not only check the weather forecast and bring an umbrella, but also exercise enough to strengthen your immunity. Even if you get wet in the rain, you won't catch a cold easily. If you use both, you can really save yourself from going to the hospital.