Feeling healthy may be one of the biggest reasons Kenyans are failing to screen for conditions that can remain undetected for years, a new survey has found.
The Know Your Numbers (KYN) Survey, conducted by Ipsos Kenya for Doctors for Healthy Living (D4HL), found that 72 per cent of respondents who had not undergone recent health checks said they had not tested because they felt healthy.
Lack of time was cited by 18 per cent, inconvenient timing by 12 per cent and cost by just 10 per cent.
The finding highlights a persistent challenge in preventive healthcare: people may wait for symptoms before seeking care, despite conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol often developing without obvious warning signs.
"One of the biggest challenges in preventive healthcare is that many people equate feeling healthy with being healthy," said Dr Robert Mathenge, co-founder of Doctors for Healthy Living.
"While feeling well is important, conditions such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and even cancer, can develop without obvious symptoms. Detecting health risks and disease early can improve the chances of timely treatment and better outcomes."
The survey involved 1,100 connected and economically active adults living in urban and peri-urban Kenya. While the findings point to significant gaps in preventive health behaviour, the sample does not represent the entire Kenyan population.
The research found relatively high awareness of some basic health indicators. Blood pressure was the best known, with 90 per cent of respondents familiar with it, followed by blood sugar at 78 per cent. Awareness of body mass index (BMI) stood at 66 per cent and cholesterol at 63 per cent.
But awareness dropped sharply when respondents were asked about actual screening. Although 79 per cent had checked their blood pressure at least once and 59 per cent had measured their BMI, only 47 per cent had ever tested their blood sugar. The figures fell to 15 per cent for cholesterol and just nine per cent for waist circumference.
Recent screening rates were lower still. Only 38 per cent had tested their blood sugar in the previous 12 months, while 10 per cent had checked their cholesterol and six per cent had measured their waist circumference.
The figures point to a gap between knowing about a health risk and knowing one's own health status.
Waist circumference emerged as the least understood of the indicators surveyed, with only one in four respondents aware of it. Yet measurements such as waist circumference and BMI can help identify risk associated with metabolic and cardiovascular conditions.
Women also reported higher awareness and screening rates than men across nearly all the indicators, suggesting that men may require more targeted approaches to encourage preventive healthcare.
Where screening happens could also influence participation. Private hospitals and clinics were preferred by 80 per cent of respondents, while 71 per cent selected public health facilities. Pharmacies, despite being among the healthcare touchpoints most frequently accessed by the public, were preferred by only 17 per cent.
The findings raise the possibility of expanding preventive screening into settings people already visit, including workplaces and pharmacies.
"Knowing your numbers should become as routine as servicing your car or renewing your insurance," said Anthony Mugo, head of partnerships at Doctors for Healthy Living.
"Preventive healthcare must become part of where people live, work and access everyday services. The easier and more routine we make screening, the greater our chances of detecting disease early and safeguarding our health."
The survey comes as Kenya continues to face a growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity.
For health experts, the message emerging from the research is straightforward: feeling well should not be the test for deciding whether to get checked.
The bigger challenge is making preventive screening sufficiently accessible and routine that checking one's health becomes an everyday habit rather than something done only when illness strikes.
