Routine health checkups are common in the United States, but access and recent use vary by state and across age and coverage groups. In 2022, 76.2% of U.S. adults visited a doctor for a routine checkup in the past year. Earlier data for adults ages 18–64 put the 2021 figure at 73.6%, while adolescent data show meaningful gaps in preventive visits as well.
Contents
- How common are annual adult routine checkups?
- 2023 state variation
- Longer gaps between routine checkups
- Adolescent trends from 2008 to 2014
- Adolescent gaps by age
- Disparities by race, income, and insurance
How common are annual adult routine checkups?
The available national measures indicate that roughly three-quarters of adults reported a recent routine checkup. The CDC’s PLACES prevention measure reports that 76.2% of U.S. adults visited a doctor for a routine checkup in the past year in 2022. Prevention | PLACES | CDC
A related CDC Chronic Disease Indicators measure found that 73.6% of U.S. adults ages 18–64 visited a doctor for a routine checkup in the past year in 2021. Because the two figures come from different years and the second specifies ages 18–64, they should be read as separate measurements rather than a direct year-to-year trend. Non-Medical Factors | Chronic Disease Indicators | CDC
These statistics describe whether a respondent reported a routine checkup within the specified lookback period. They do not establish that every person should schedule exactly one visit each calendar year, and they do not measure the quality, length, or clinical content of the visit.
2023 state variation in past-year routine checkups
The CDC’s 2023 BRFSS age-adjusted prevalence data show a broad spread among the states represented in the supplied measures. The share reporting a routine checkup within the past year ranged from 68.2% in Wyoming to 82.7% in Rhode Island.
| State | Adults reporting a routine checkup within the past year, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Wyoming | 68.2% |
| Washington | 70.1% |
| Montana | 70.2% |
| Colorado | 71.1% |
| Alaska | 71.4% |
| Arizona | 71.9% |
| Texas | 72.2% |
| California | 73.5% |
| Minnesota | 74.1% |
| Georgia | 75.3% |
| Alabama | 77.2% |
| Massachusetts | 80.9% |
| New York | 81.0% |
| Rhode Island | 82.7% |
In the 2023 BRFSS measures, 67.5% of New Mexico adults reported visiting a doctor for a routine checkup within the past year. At the higher end, the corresponding shares were 80.9% in Massachusetts, 81.0% in New York, and 82.7% in Rhode Island. At the lower end, Wyoming was 68.2%, Washington 70.1%, and Montana 70.2%. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Age-Adjusted Prevalence Data (2011 to present)
Other 2023 state estimates included 71.1% in Colorado, 71.4% in Alaska, 71.9% in Arizona, 72.2% in Texas, and 73.5% in California. The measure was 74.1% in Minnesota, 75.3% in Georgia, and 77.2% in Alabama. These are state-level age-adjusted prevalence estimates for 2023, not a ranking of individual medical practices or a forecast for a later year.
How often adults report longer gaps or never having a routine checkup
The same 2023 state data also show that some adults reported a longer interval since their last routine checkup. In New Mexico, 15.6% reported that their last routine checkup was within the past 2 years. The comparable shares were 14.3% in Washington, 13.0% in Colorado, 12.9% in Oregon, 12.7% in Minnesota, and 12.7% in Wyoming.
Other reported percentages for the “within the past 2 years” measure were 12.3% in Texas and 12.1% in Utah. These figures are presented as reported in the BRFSS data and should not be combined with the past-year percentages as though they were mutually exclusive categories.
The dataset also identifies states where adults reported that their last routine checkup was 5 or more years ago. In 2023, that percentage was 10.5% in Wyoming, 8.6% in Montana, 8.1% in Alaska, and 7.4% in Idaho. The 5-or-more-years measure describes a particularly long reported gap; it is not the same as saying that all remaining adults had a checkup within the past year.
Adolescent preventive-checkup trends from 2008 to 2014
Adolescent figures in the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics data brief cover U.S. adolescents ages 10–17 from 2008 through 2014. They are older than the adult state estimates above, so they provide historical context rather than a current adolescent national estimate.
Among adolescents ages 10–17, the percentage without a usual place for preventive care fell from 4.5% in 2008 to 2.3% in 2014. Over the same period, the percentage without a well-child checkup in the past 12 months fell from 31.3% to 21.2%. The percentage without a dental visit in the past 12 months declined from 15.6% in 2008 to 12.1% in 2014. Preventive Care Among Adolescents Aged 10–17: United States, 2008–2014
The measures capture different parts of preventive care. A usual place for care concerns an ongoing access point, while a well-child checkup and a dental visit concern whether a visit occurred during the preceding 12 months. A decline in one measure does not necessarily describe an identical change in the others.
Adolescent annual checkup gaps by age group
In 2014, the share of U.S. adolescents without a usual place for preventive care increased across the listed age groups: 1.4% among ages 10–11, 1.7% among ages 12–13, 2.7% among ages 14–15, and 3.5% among ages 16–17.
The age pattern was not identical for well-child checkups. In 2014, 20.3% of adolescents ages 10–11 did not receive a well-child checkup in the past 12 months, compared with 19.2% among ages 14–15 and 27.1% among ages 16–17. The supplied data also report that 19.2% of ages 14–15 lacked a well-child checkup, compared with 20.3% of ages 10–11.
Dental-visit gaps rose with age in the listed groups. In 2014, 9.2% of adolescents ages 10–11 had no dental visit in the past 12 months, compared with 11.3% of ages 12–13, 12.7% of ages 14–15, and 15.3% of ages 16–17.
| Adolescent age group | No usual place for preventive care | No well-child checkup in past 12 months | No dental visit in past 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10–11 | 1.4% | 20.3% | 9.2% |
| 12–13 | 1.7% | Not supplied | 11.3% |
| 14–15 | 2.7% | 19.2% | 12.7% |
| 16–17 | 3.5% | 27.1% | 15.3% |
All values in this table refer to U.S. adolescents in 2014. “Not supplied” means the provided 2014 facts did not include a well-child-checkup percentage for ages 12–13.
Adolescent checkup disparities by race, income, and insurance
The 2014 national adolescent data show differences in access and recent preventive visits across race and ethnicity groups. Among U.S. adolescents ages 10–17, 4.2% of Hispanic adolescents had no usual place for preventive care, compared with 1.5% of non-Hispanic White adolescents and 2.0% of non-Hispanic Black adolescents.
The well-child-checkup measure also varied: 27.8% of Hispanic adolescents did not receive a well-child checkup in the past 12 months, compared with 19.7% of non-Hispanic White adolescents and 18.0% of non-Hispanic Black adolescents.
Insurance status was associated with especially large differences in the supplied figures. In 2014, 18.4% of uninsured adolescents had no usual place for preventive care, compared with 1.1% of privately insured adolescents and 1.6% of publicly insured adolescents. For well-child checkups, 54.2% of uninsured adolescents did not receive one in the past 12 months, compared with 18.8% of privately insured adolescents and 19.4% of publicly insured adolescents.
Family income was also linked with different reported gaps. Among adolescents in families at or below 138% of the federal poverty level, 24.4% did not receive a well-child checkup in the past 12 months, compared with 19.8% of those in families above 138% of the federal poverty level. For dental visits, 19.1% of adolescents in families at or below 138% of the federal poverty level had no dental visit in the past 12 months, compared with 9.1% of those above that threshold.
These adolescent comparisons describe 2014 U.S. estimates for ages 10–17 and do not establish that race, income, or insurance status alone caused the differences. They also should not be substituted for the newer adult state measures, which use a different population, year, and reporting framework.