Health Screening Guide: What Tests Should I Do

Health Screening involves various diagnostic and screening tests. The question is, what tests should one opt for without exhausting your insurance or bank account, and how often should one undergo health screening?

While health screening is useful for early detection and screening for health conditions, a one-time screening will only reflect health conditions that are present at that time of screening. Regular health screening is advocated to screen for health conditions that may develop over the years after the previous screening.

Here are some guides to assist you choosing your health screening tests and timing your screening schedule prudently.

SCREENING TESTS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE (MEN AND WOMEN).

Age	Screening Tor	Screening Tests	Frequency of Screening
Age 18 and above	Hypertension	Blood pressure measurement	Every 2 years or more recommended by your doctor
Age 18 and above	Obesity	Body Mass Index (BMI) Body Fat Percentage Waist Circumference	Every year
Age 40 and above	Hyperlipidemia	Fasting lipids	Every 3 years or more recommended by your doctor
Age 40 and above	Diabetes Mellitus	Fasting blood glucose HbA1C	Every 3 years or more recommended by your doctor
Age 50 and above	Colorectal Cancer	Fecal Occult Blood	Every year
Age 50 and above	Colorectal Cancer	Colonoscopy	Every 10 years or as recommended by your doctor

Screening Tests that are recommended for All Women (in addition to the above).

Age	Screening For	Screening Tests	Frequency of Screening
Age 25-69, who are sexually active before	Cervical Cancer	Pap smear	Every 3 years or more recommended by your doctor
Age 25-69, who are sexually active before	Cervical Cancer	HPV test	Every 5 years
Age 40-49	Breast Cancer	Mammogram	Every year
Age 50-69	Breast Cancer	Mammogram	Every 2 years

Screening Tests that are Specific to certain Health Conditions.

Screening For	Targeted Population	Screening Tests	Frequency of Screening
Anemia Iron Deficiency Anemia Thalassemia		Full Blood Count	-Pregnant ladies: during first prenatal visit -Non-pregnant ladies: once before pregnancy
	Pregnant ladies Non-pregnant ladies of child bearing age	Full Blood Count Iron Studies
	Pregnant ladies Family history of thalassemia	Full Blood Count Thalassemia screen
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm	Men age 65-75 who smoke before	Ultrasound Abdomen	As recommended by your doctor
Breast Cancer	Women with BRCA high risk gene	MRI breasts	Every year
Coronary Artery Disease	Men and Women with intermediate heart disease risk	Electrocardiography (ECG) Treadmill Stress Test Apolipoprotein A Apolipoprotein B Homocysteine High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs CRP) CT Coronary Calcium Score	As recommended by your doctor
Colorectal Cancer	Men and Women above 50, and not undergoing colonoscopy or stool occult blood	CT Colonography	Every 5 years or as recommended by your doctor
Cerebral Aneurysm	History of polycystic kidney disease Strong personal or family history of cerebral bleeding or aneurysm	MRI Brain MRA Brain	As recommended by your doctor
Hearing Loss	People who are exposed to loud noises	Audiometry	Every year

Screening For	Targeted Population	Screening Tests	Frequency of Screening
Hepatitis B infection	Immigrants from places where Hepatitis B is prevalent Pregnant ladies	Hbs Ag blood test Hbs Ab blood test	-Pregnant ladies: during first prenatal visit -Others: as recommended by your doctor
HIV	Those who have high risk sexual behavior Pregnant ladies	HIV screen	Pregnant ladies: during first prenatal visit Others: as recommended by your doctor
Intestinal parasitic infections	Immigrants from countries with common parasitic infection Travelers who stayed in countries with common parasitic infection for long	Stool tests	As recommended by your doctor
Kidney disorders	Smoker, age 50 and above History of hypertension, diabetes or cardiovascular disease Family history of kidney disease	Urine analysis test	As recommended by your doctor
Kidney disorders		Kidney function test	Every year
Liver cancer	History of liver cirrhosis Hepatitis B carrier	Ultrasound liver Alpha-feto Protein (AFP)	Every year
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)	Family history of NPC	Nasoscopy EPV EA IgA (tumor marker)	As recommended by your doctor
Osteoporosis	High risk individuals with high FRAX or OSTA score	Bone mineral density (BMD)	As recommended by your doctor
Ovarian cancer	Women with BRCA high risk gene	Transvaginal ultrasound	As recommended by your doctor

Screening For	Targeted Population	Screening Tests	Frequency of Screening
Peripheral Vascular Disease	History of diabetes Smoker, age 50 and above with hypertension and hyperlipidemia	Ankle Brachial Index (ABI)	As recommended by your doctor
Prostate cancer	Men age 50-75 Family history of prostate cancer	Prostate specific antigen (PSA)	As recommended by your doctor
Syphilis	Those who have high risk sexual behavior Pregnant ladies	Venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL)	Pregnant ladies: during first prenatal visit Others: as recommended by your doctor
Thyroid disorders	History of immune system disorders Obesity Pregnant ladies	Thyroid function test (TFT)	As recommended by your doctor
Tuberculosis	Contact history with people with TB Immigrants from country with high TB prevalence	Chest X-ray	As recommended by your doctor
Skin Cancer, Mole and Lump checks	Everyone, especially those who engage in outdoor activities & those with a history of sunburn	Dermatoscopy physical examination Skin Biopsy	As recommended by your doctor

Consult us today!

Addition to general screening tests recommended for everyone, certain tests may be useful for some predisposed group of people. One may have risk factors to certain disease base on a positive family history, social history such as smoking or alcohol, or other pre-existing medical conditions.

While health screening should be comprehensive, it is important to target it base on personal health risks factors, needs and concerns. You may wish to discuss with your doctor before proceeding with various investigations during health screening.

Table of Contents

SCREENING TESTS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE (MEN AND WOMEN).

Screening Tests that are recommended for All Women (in addition to the above).

Screening Tests that are Specific to certain Health Conditions.

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