What an executive health check costs in Dubai

The prices, from the most complete down

The highest published price in Dubai is AED 30,950, for the Signature Royale at King's College Hospital Dubai, against a list price of AED 33,000 [1]. The same hospital sells its Signature Diamond at AED 25,950, with transport from your home or hotel and an escort through every test, and its Signature Platinum at AED 19,450 [2] [3].

Below those sit the hospital's age and sex based checks. The Executive Premium costs AED 4,950 for men over 40 and AED 5,450 for women over 40. The checks for people over 60 cost AED 5,800 for men and AED 6,800 for women, and those for people under 40 cost AED 3,950 and AED 4,450. The shortest, the Vital Health Check, costs AED 2,200 [4].

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi runs a one day executive programme of about 6 to 8 hours and does not publish a price, saying the final cost varies with the tests you need [5].

Mediclinic sells health check packages up to its Executive Plus, which adds a treadmill stress test and a dietitian consultation, at City Hospital, Parkview, Welcare and Dubai Mall. Its page does not show the Executive Plus price, and its package discount applies to self-pay purchases only [6].

What the difference in price buys

The gap between a few thousand dirhams and thirty thousand is mostly imaging, time with doctors and how much of the day is arranged for you. King's describes its most expensive packages as adding transport from your home or hotel and an escort from test to test [2].

Ask any provider for the full list of tests in writing before you pay, and ask who will explain the results to you. A long list read back to you by email is worth less than a shorter one a doctor goes through with you in person.

Ask too what happens after the day. A result that needs a second test, a specialist or a repeat in six months is where a check earns its price, so ask whether the package includes it. Find out whether the same doctor will arrange it, and whether that costs extra.

What a health check can and cannot do

A general check for everyone has a weak record. A Cochrane review of 17 trials, 15 of which reported outcomes for 251,891 people, found that general health checks made little or no difference to deaths from any cause, from cancer or from heart disease [7].

Single tests aimed at a known risk do better. In 6,722 adults with no heart symptoms, a coronary calcium score above 300 was linked to almost ten times the risk of a heart attack or other coronary event of people with no calcium [8]. In 11,092 adults, an HbA1c between 6.0% and 6.5% carried more than four times the later risk of diabetes of a level between 5.0% and 5.5% [9]. Both results change what a doctor advises.

Three results worth asking for by name

Whichever package you choose, these three are worth checking it includes, because each one changes what you would do next.

• An HbA1c, which shows your average blood sugar over the last few months.
• A coronary calcium score, when your age or family history gives a reason to look at your heart.
• A vitamin D level, which a review of 41 studies across the region found low in 44% to 96% of adults [10].

What our assessment costs

Our executive health assessment in Dubai costs from AED 34,000. It will be one day with one doctor, who brings your examination, blood tests and imaging together and explains every result to you before you leave.

What stays after the day is the difference. The same doctor will keep your results, see you again when something needs following up, and look after your family as well. Founding membership is from AED 18,500 a year [11].