Introduction:
The adult population in the Slovak Republic can undergo free preventive health check-ups, which are an opportunity for early detection of the disease, allowing the disease to be brought under control.

Aim of the research:
To evaluate the attitudes of the adult population towards preventive health check-ups.

Material and methods:
The sample consisted of 257 adult individuals. We used a questionnaire of our own design and assessed attitudes on a five-point Likert scale. The data were evaluated using the statistical description method. We used the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. We expressed the order of attitudes by Spearman’s ordinal correlation coefficient.

Results:
Women’s attitudes are more positive (x– = 4.12) than men’s attitudes (x– = 4.00). The highest score of ordinal correlation in the whole cohort and in men was for prevention at the dentist (x– = 4.33). In women, it was a stool examination for hidden bleeding (x– = 4.38). The age category 18–30 years considers the least that the preventive examinations are active care for the health (x– = 3.83). Individuals (n = 257) did not consider preventive check-ups as a tool for active care of their health (x– = 4.09) and did not attach importance to them (x– = 4.08). The results (p > 0.05) confirmed that age and gender do not affect the attitudes of respondents.

Conclusions:
Preventive health check-ups at the general practitioner are most neglected by the adult population aged 18–30 years. They are a high-risk age group. Men prefer prevention at the dentist, and women prefer stool examination for hidden bleeding.