Can routine physical examination be done in the afternoon

It is usually not recommended to arrange routine physical examinations in the afternoon, unless you only do sporadic items that do not require fasting, or you have confirmed with the medical institution in advance that the items will not be affected by eating and metabolism time. The routine physical examinations we often talk about generally include fasting blood sugar, blood lipids, liver function, and B-ultrasound of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen. These items have very strict requirements on the timing of the examination. The state test must be fasted for 8-12 hours to be accurate. The best time is between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. A while ago, in order to save time, my colleague stayed hungry until 1 pm for a full physical examination. The blood test showed that the fasting blood sugar was 0.8mmol/L lower than the normal value, and the triglyceride was slightly higher than the reference value. The doctor said that being hungry for too long will activate the metabolism of stored fat, which will affect the results of blood lipids and blood sugar. The last two items had to be re-scheduled to be done in the morning, which was a waste of a long time.

However, not all physical examination items are stuck in the morning time. If you only do items that do not require fasting, such as blood routine, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, thyroid B-ultrasound, gynecological routine, cervical cancer screening, etc., it will be more comfortable to do it in the afternoon. Last week I accompanied my mother for a follow-up check-up for high blood pressure, which only required routine blood tests, electrocardiogram and carotid artery B-ultrasound. The appointment was made at 2pm on a Wednesday. There were more than half the number of people in the physical examination center compared to the morning. There was no need to queue up and everything was done in half an hour. The experience was much better than the crowded weekend mornings before.

There are also some views in the medical community that if it is just a general health screening, rather than a precise pre-operative examination or regular follow-up of chronic diseases, blood lipids and other items can be done even if it is not strictly fasting. Just refer to the non-fasting standard values. In this case, it can also be arranged in the afternoon. However, at present, most public physical examination centers in China still follow the fasting standard. If you are doing a full routine physical examination arranged by your unit, you should try to make an appointment in the morning, otherwise you will not be able to do the fasting items, and it will be troublesome to make an extra trip. It doesn’t matter if you really can’t spare the whole morning time. You can also discuss with the physical examination center to split the projects. If you need to fast, find a separate morning to do it quickly, and do the rest during your free time in the afternoon. Flexible arrangements are also no problem. You don’t have to insist on completing all the projects in one day.