At 18 to 25, few people feel that prevention concerns them. Yet this is the age when habits take hold — sleep, screens, alcohol, tobacco, physical activity — that will weigh on health for decades to come, and the age when you leave pediatric care, often without having a regular doctor (médecin traitant). The prevention check-up for ages 18-25 is a 30- to 45-minute consultation, fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie), to take stock without judgment and leave with one or two goals you have chosen yourself.
What is the prevention check-up for ages 18-25?
The prevention check-up for ages 18-25 is a time for discussion dedicated to prevention, available only once between 18 and 25 inclusive with a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or midwife. It lasts 30 to 45 minutes, involves no tests or blood draw, and ends with a Personalized Prevention Plan. It is fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance, with no upfront payment: you simply present your Carte Vitale (French health insurance card).
It is not mandatory: you choose whether to have it, when within the age bracket, and with whom. It is part of Mon bilan prévention, France’s national prevention check-up program, created by the ministerial order (arrêté) of May 28, 2024 and offered at four points in life; we present the full framework in our reference page on the prevention check-up.
Why have a prevention check-up so young?
Because the main health risks between 18 and 25 don’t show up in a blood test: they relate to sleep, mood, substance use, sexuality and missed vaccines. And because this is the age when you leave the childhood care system without it being replaced by adult follow-up.
In our practice, we often see young adults we haven’t seen since high school: they come in for a sore throat or a certificate, and we discover chaotic sleep, lingering anxiety, poorly suited contraception or a lost vaccination record. The check-up provides a setting to talk about these things without a pretext or an emergency.
An even simpler reason: the habits formed at 20 are the easiest to change. Three years of smoking is easier to quit than thirty, and a regular doctor found at 22 will then follow you for years.
What topics does the prevention check-up cover at ages 18-25?
The prevention check-up for ages 18-25 covers mental health and well-being, addictions, sexual health and contraception, vaccinations, sleep, diet, physical activity and entering the care pathway with a regular doctor. The official self-assessment questionnaire for this age bracket brings these topics to the surface; you won’t cover them all in 45 minutes, and that is by design.
Mental health and well-being
Stress from studies or a first job, loneliness after a move, anxiety, low mood: these are the first topics that emerge from the questionnaires. The check-up is not meant to make a diagnosis; it helps put a name to what is weighing on you, spot the signs that warrant an opinion (persistent sleep problems, isolation, dark thoughts) and point you to the right people: your regular doctor, a psychologist, student health services, covered psychological support programs.
Addictions: tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, screens
We talk about them without moralizing, with facts. Where are you with tobacco, including e-cigarettes? How is alcohol spread across your week — one drink a day or six on Saturday? Is cannabis part of daily life? And screens: what time does the last one go off? The alcohol consumption guidelines from Santé publique France (the French public health agency) help put things in perspective. If you want to cut down or quit, the professional tells you about the support available; if you don’t, no one will force you.
Sexual health and contraception
Contraception suited to your life, protection against sexually transmitted infections, consent, pain or questions you don’t dare ask: midwives are a preferred point of contact here, but all the professionals who carry out the check-up can address the subject. The check-up is also the time to review screening for sexually transmitted infections and the programs that make it easier before age 26. For women, the organized cervical cancer screening program starts at 25, with two cytology tests one year apart and then a third three years later, according to the French National Cancer Institute (Institut national du cancer).
Vaccinations and catch-up
The health record booklet has often stayed at your parents’ home, and the last shot dates back to middle school. The check-up is a chance to see what is missing. Two points come up again and again at this age: the diphtheria-tetanus-polio-pertussis booster scheduled for young adults, and vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), recommended between 11 and 14, with catch-up possible for young women and young men up to and including age 26. Other vaccines are discussed depending on your situation (travel, health studies, meningococcus), always according to the current French vaccination schedule.
Sleep
Late bedtimes, irregular wake-up times, screens in bed, coffee to compensate: sleep is often the first thing sacrificed at this age, and the main cause of fatigue and difficulty concentrating. The check-up is a chance to look honestly at your typical week and choose one concrete lever — a bedtime, a screen switched off earlier.
Diet and physical activity
First apartment, tight budget, skipped meals or meals on the go: we are not looking for perfection, but for habits that fit your real life. For physical activity, the World Health Organization’s benchmark for adults is at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity per week; the useful question is mainly whether you still move since school sports ended.
Having a regular doctor
Many young adults don’t have one, because they left their childhood doctor when they moved or have never needed one. It is a topic in its own right in the check-up: the professional explains what registering a regular doctor is for, how to do it, and can help you find a doctor who is accepting new patients.
How does the prevention check-up for ages 18-25 work?
The prevention check-up for ages 18-25 follows three steps over 30 to 45 minutes: identifying your risks based on the self-assessment questionnaire, jointly choosing one or two priority topics, and then writing up the Personalized Prevention Plan. It requires no medical preparation.
Before the appointment, if possible, fill in the self-assessment questionnaire for ages 18-25 in Mon espace santé (France’s personal digital health record) or as a PDF from ameli.fr — we have broken it down in our page on the prevention check-up questionnaire. Bring your Carte Vitale and, if you can find it, your vaccination record; if not, the professional will tell you how to piece together your history.
During the appointment, the professional goes through your answers, asks a few additional questions and identifies two or three key points. Then you choose together what to act on first — and it really is you who chooses: a modest goal you have picked will be kept; an imposed goal will not.
The appointment ends with writing up the Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP), which you take with you; it is sent to your regular doctor if you have one and don’t object, and it can be uploaded to Mon espace santé.
An example of a Personalized Prevention Plan at 22
The Personalized Prevention Plan is a one-page document that records your priorities, what holds you back, the actions decided on and the people who can help you. Here is a fictional example, for illustration purposes.
Situation (fictional): Sami, 22, a second-year student, has been living alone for a year. Goes to bed between 1 and 3 a.m., irregular wake-up times, screen until bedtime. Marked anxiety during exam periods, with even worse sleep at those times. No regular doctor since moving. Vaccination record can’t be found. Smokes occasionally at parties.
| Plan section | What we would write |
|---|---|
| My priorities | 1. Get back to a regular sleep pattern. 2. Have a regular doctor and bring my vaccines up to date. |
| What holds me back | Working late in the evening, watching series late at night, fear of being “judged” for going to a doctor for nothing. |
| What I decide to do | Screen off at 11:30 p.m. on weeknights and in bed before midnight for four weeks, with a fixed wake-up time; track my sleep on my phone; book an appointment within two weeks with the general practitioner I found near campus to register a regular doctor. |
| What I schedule | At that appointment: piece together my vaccination history and get the necessary catch-up shots; talk about exam anxiety and see whether psychological support would help; review smoking at parties. |
| Who can help me | Regular doctor; the university’s student health service; pharmacist for vaccination questions; resources found on the Santé.fr map. |
What this example shows: only two priorities, a short deadline, and the regular doctor as the point of contact for everything related to care. Sleep and anxiety are linked; acting on the first helps the second. We explain the logic of this document in detail in our page on the Personalized Prevention Plan.
Is the prevention check-up for ages 18-25 mandatory, and who is informed?
No, the prevention check-up for ages 18-25 is not mandatory, and what is said during it is covered by medical confidentiality. From age 18, you are a legal adult: neither your parents, nor your school, nor your employer are informed. The personalized plan is sent to your regular doctor, unless you object, and to no one else.
You can have it at 18 or at 25, provided you haven’t already had it in this bracket. If you miss it, the next covered opportunity is the prevention check-up at ages 45-50; until then, your follow-up goes through your regular doctor. If you prepare your check-up online, our page security and data describes how your answers are protected.
Key takeaways
- The prevention check-up for ages 18-25 is a 30- to 45-minute consultation, fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance, available only once between 18 and 25 inclusive.
- It involves no tests or blood draw: it starts from the self-assessment questionnaire and leads to one or two goals you choose.
- The key topics at this age are sleep, mental health, substance use, sexual health and contraception, catch-up vaccines and choosing a regular doctor.
- It is not mandatory, and what is said during it is covered by medical confidentiality.
- Doctor, nurse, pharmacist or midwife: you choose the professional.
What Sokrate lets you do
Sokrate offers to help you prepare your prevention check-up online, from your phone: an adaptive questionnaire covering nine health dimensions, including sleep, mental health and substance use, followed by a personalized plan written and signed by a doctor and sent to your regular doctor unless you object. A coordinating nurse provides follow-up. The check-up remains fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance when carried out by an authorized professional. To be notified when the service opens, join the waitlist.