Why most men skip the doctor, and what it costs

This one is not a stereotype about men being stubborn. It shows up plainly in national data.

Preventive care visit rates for women aged 18 to 44 run at about 87 per 100 women. For men in the same age band it is about 18 per 100. That is not a small gap.

What gets missed

Men are less likely than women to have had blood pressure checked, cholesterol checked, a routine checkup, or counselling about stopping smoking. Younger men are the least likely of all.

Blood pressure and cholesterol are the two that matter most here, because both are silent for years and both are straightforwardly treatable once someone knows.

The conditions that take men early are mostly the quiet ones. There is no symptom to wait for — that is the entire problem.

The reasons, honestly

• No usual source of care — no regular doctor, so no appointment ever gets made
• Nothing is wrong, and going when nothing is wrong feels like wasting someone's time
• Work. It is genuinely hard to take a morning off for something optional
• Not wanting to be told to change anything
• Some part of it being about not wanting to be someone who needs looking after

The part worth sitting with

If you are a father, this is not only about you. The people who depend on you are the ones who carry the consequence of a thing found late.

Your wife almost certainly has a doctor, went at some point this year, and knows her own numbers. It is worth asking yourself honestly why that is normal for her and optional for you.

The short list

• Register with a doctor, if you have not. That single administrative act is most of the barrier
• Blood pressure — the most valuable check per minute spent, at any age
• Cholesterol and blood sugar, on the schedule your doctor sets
• Weight, and honestly what you drink in a week
• Anything you have been ignoring for more than six months. Say it in the appointment rather than hoping they ask
• Mental health. Say it out loud if it applies. Men are far less likely to raise it and far more likely to die of it

How to actually get it done

Book it while you are reading this, not later. Later is the mechanism by which this does not happen.

Write your questions in your phone beforehand, because you will forget them. And take the appointment that is offered rather than waiting for the convenient one.