CHARLES O. BRANTIGAN, M.D.
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To the editor: Spitzer and Brown's article (Ann Intern Med 83:257-263, 1975) questioning the value of the periodic health examination approaches the subject from a theoretical point of view. D. A. Davinroy and I, in tabulating the results of 1100 consecutive military physical examinations, have examined their value by analyzing the basic assumptions implicit in a periodic health-examination program.
Proponents of the periodic examination base their advocacy on several assumptions: [1] that there exists in the general population a large reservoir of latent or unrecognized disease discoverable by physical examination; that such disease responds to therapy; that early therapy of
BRANTIGAN CO. Periodic Health Examination. Ann Intern Med. 1976;84:344–345. doi: https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-84-3-344_4
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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1976;84(3):344-345.
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-84-3-344_4