Recommended Tests
Your healthcare provider may recommend certain screenings or tests depending on your medical history. Below is a general list of what our providers may recommend. Please consult your doctor to determine which tests are appropriate for you.
Ages 18-29
- Physical exam: At least every five years, or as your doctor recommends
- Eye exam: Once between ages 20 and 29
- Pap smear (women): Once a year for sexually active women
- Cholesterol test: Needed if you smoke; are obese; or have high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of heart disease.
Ages 30-39
- Physical exam: Every three to five years, or as your doctor recommends
- Eye exam: Once between ages 30 and 39
- Pelvic exam (women): Once a year
- Pap smear (women): Once a year for sexually active women
- Cholesterol test: Every five years if your last test was normal
Ages 40-49
- Physical exam: Every one or two years, or as your doctor recommends
- Eye exam: Every two to four years
- Cholesterol test: Every five years if your last test was normal
- Mammogram (women): Baseline at age 40, then every one or two years
- Prostate exam (men): At age 45 for all African-American men and for white men with a family history of prostate trouble
- Bone density test: As you approach menopause (women); all women and men who are at risk for osteoporosis
- Pelvic exam (women): Once a year
- Pap smear (women): Once a year for sexually active women
Ages 50 and Older
- Physical exam: Every one or two years, or as your doctor recommends
- Cholesterol test: Every five years if your last test was normal
- Mammogram (women): Once a year
- Pap smear (women): Once a year for sexually active women. After age 70, women no longer need this test if they have had three normal pap smears in a row or no abnormal results in 10 years.
- Rectal exam: Once a year
- Fecal occult blood test: Once a year
- Sigmoidoscopy: Every five years
- Colonoscopy: Every 10 years
- Prostate exam (men): Once a year
- Bone density test: Women at or approaching menopause, all women over 65, men who are at risk for osteoporosis
- Baseline audiogram: At age 60
- Skin cancer screening: Every one to two years