The evidence landscape for the use of pre-consultation questionnaires in primary care with implications for men’s health: a systematic review

Title The evidence landscape for the use of pre-consultation questionnaires in primary care with implications for men’s health: a systematic review. Background Men experience shorter life expectancy and higher burdens of preventable morbidity than women, with particularly poor outcomes among men from socioeconomically disadvantaged and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Pre-consultations questionnaires have been proposed as a strategy to improve men’s recognition of risk factors and symptoms, strengthen health literacy and support more effective use of primary care, but their acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness remain unclear. Methods A systematic search of MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE and Scopus was conducted from database inception to 2 February 2026 for randomised controlled trials, cohort studies and systematic reviews evaluating pre-consultation questionnaires, checklists or structured health assessments used with men aged 18 years and over in primary care settings. Eligible studies compared these tools with usual care or another comparator and reported any patient, clinician, behavioural, clinical or health service outcome. Equity-relevant data for culturally and linguistically diverse or otherwise disadvantaged men were extracted where available. Data were synthesised narratively given study and outcome heterogeneity. Results The search identified a small, heterogenous evidence base, with most studies conducted in high-income primary care settings and few designed specifically for men. Pre-consultation questionnaires were generally acceptable to patients and clinicians, and some studies reported improvements in identification of cardiovascular risk factors and documentation of preventive care. However, evidence for sustained changes in health behaviours, health literacy, clinical outcomes or health service utilisation was limited and inconsistent, and very few studies reported outcomes segregated by sex or focused on men from culturally and linguistically diverse or indigenous backgrounds. Overall, study quality was mixed, with common limitations including small samples, short follow-up and inadequate reporting of implementation processes. Conclusion Existing evidence suggests that pre-consultation questionnaires in primary care are acceptable and may enhance identification of health risks and support more structured consultations, but there is little robust data demonstrating improved long-term outcomes, for men or addressing equity gaps for priority groups. High-quality trials and mixed methods evaluations that are explicitly designed for men, report sex-specific outcomes, and incorporate co-design with culturally diverse communities are needed to determine how best to use pre-consultation tools to strengthen men’s preventive care.