General Health Screenings You Should Consider in Your Lifetime
BREAST CANCER SCREENING
Age 40-49: decision to start screening every 2 years
on an individual basis.
Age 50-74: recommended every 2 years
Benefits: evidence shows screening reduces breast
cancer mortality for women aged 50-74 years.
Risks: include psychological harms, additional
medical visits, imaging, and biopsies in women
without cancer, inconvenience due to false-positive
screening results, harms of unnecessary treatment,
and radiation exposure. Harms seem moderate for
each age group.
CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING
Ages 21-65: Pap smear every 3 years
Ages 30-65: Pap smear with HPV testing every 5
years
Risk assessment: Human papillomavirus (HPV)
infection is associated with nearly all cases of
cervical cancer.
Benefits: reduced cervical cancer incidence and
mortality
Risks: physical and psychological problems; anxiety
after being informed of abnormal pap result, lower
abdominal pain, urinary discomfort, feeling sick,
feeling dizzy, and/or painful sexual activity
(Habbema et al., 2017).
COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENING
Age 50-75
Colonoscopy – every 10 years
Benefits: decreases colorectal cancer mortality
Risks: adverse reaction to the sedative used during
the exam, bleeding from the site where a tissue
sample (biopsy) was taken or a polyp or other
abnormal tissue was removed, a tear in the colon or
rectum wall (perforation) (Mayo Clinic, n.d.).
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Age 18 and up
High blood pressure (hypertension) is usually
defined in adults as: systolic blood pressure (SBP) of
140 mm Hg or higher, or diastolic blood pressure
(DBP) of 90 mm Hg or higher.
References
AHRQ (n.d.) Guide to clinical preventive services, 2014. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved from: https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians-
providers/guidelines-recommendations/guide/index.html
Habbema, D., Weinmann, S., Arbyn, M., Kamineni, A., Williams, A. E., de Kok, I. M., van Kemenade, F., Field, T.S., van Rosmalen, J., & Brown, M. (2017). Harms of
cervical cancer screening in the United States and the Netherlands. International Journal of Cancer, 140(5), 1215–1222. http://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.30524
Johns Hopkins Medicine (n.d.) Sigmoidoscopy. Hopkinsmedicine.org. Retrieved from: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/
gastroenterology/sigmoidoscopy_92,P07700
Mayo Clinic (n.d.) Test and Procedures. Mayoclinic.org. Retrieved from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures
Due to variability in individual blood pressure
measurements, it is recommended that
hypertension be diagnosed only after 2 or more
elevated readings are obtained on at least 2 visits
over a period of 1 to several weeks.
The Joint National Committee on Prevention,
Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood
Pressure (JNC 7) recommends:
 Screening every 2 years with BP <120/80.
 Screening every year with SBP of 120-139
mmHg or DBP of 80-90 mmHg.
LIPID DISORDERS
No age specified – screen with risk factors for
coronary heart disease every 5 years
Screening test: total cholesterol, high-density and
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol
Risks: some soreness or tenderness around the site
where your blood is drawn is possible. Rarely, the
site of the blood draw can become infected (Mayo
Clinic, n.d.)
OBESITY
Age 18 years and up: there are no recommendations
for how often you should be screened.
Screening: Body mass index is calculated from the
measured weight and height of an individual.
Benefits: Adequate evidence indicates that
intensive, multicomponent behavioral interventions
for obese adults can lead to weight loss, as well as
improved glucose tolerance and other physiologic
risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Risks: Adequate evidence indicates that the harms of
screening and behavioral interventions for obesity
are small. Possible harms of behavioral weight-loss
interventions include decreased bone mineral
density and increased fracture risk, serious injuries
resulting from increased physical activity, and
increased risk for eating disorders.