• Ali M Alzahrani, Baraa S Quronfulah, Holly C Felix, and Asim A Khogeer.
• From the Department of Health Services Management and Management (Alzahrani); from the Health Promotion and Health Education Department (Quronfulah), Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University; from the Research Department (Khogeer), The Strategic Planning, General Directorate of Health Affairs; from the Medical Genetics Unit (Khogeer), Maternity & Children Hospital, Makkah Healthcare Cluster, Ministry of Health, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and from the Department of Health Policy and Management (Felix), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas, United States of America.
• Saudi Med J. 2022 Jun 1; 43 (6): 618625618-625.

ObjectivesTo explore the perspectives of primary care providers (PCPs) on the low use of and barriers to routine checkups among Saudi adults.MethodsA qualitative phenomenological study design was used. Interviews were carried out between (December 2020 and February 2021) with 19 PCPs working at 5 primary healthcare centers (PHCs) operated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics were performed to characterize participants, and a directed content analysis was carried out to examine major themes.ResultsPrimary care providers identified a number of barriers that contributed to a low uptake of routine checkup among Saudis. These barriers to routine checkups were classified into 3 main themes: patient-related barriers, provider-related barriers, and healthcare system-related barriers. Lack of knowledge of patients, crowdedness at PHCs, and busy staff at PHCs were the most frequently mentioned barriers that hamper the use of routine checkups.ConclusionThis study presented new insight into the low use of routine checkups by obtaining the perspective of PCPs. Although results point to potential targets for interventions to increase routine checkups, additional research is recommended with a representative sample of PCPs randomly selected from the healthcare system to inform future policy and decision making related to improving use of routine care available through the Saudi Healthcare System.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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