Health checks at different ages

Preventive care is age-structured for good reasons, and knowing what applies to your decade prevents both unnecessary testing and genuinely missed opportunities.

Twenties and thirties

Where prevention is mostly behavioural.

Cervical screening from the age at which the national programme starts, which is the single most important scheduled check in this age group.

Sexual health screening according to activity, including testing between partners.

Blood pressure measured periodically, since hypertension in young adults is not rare and is silent.

Vaccination status checked, including MMR, HPV where catch-up applies, and any occupational requirements.

Dental and eye examinations at the recommended interval.

Preconception care for anyone considering pregnancy, including folic acid, medication review and vaccination status.

Mental health, since most mental illness begins before the mid-twenties.

And establishing the habits — activity, alcohol, smoking, sleep — that determine most of what happens later.

Forties

Where formal risk assessment begins.

Cardiovascular risk assessment, including cholesterol and blood pressure, at the age recommended locally.

Diabetes screening for anyone with risk factors.

Continued cervical screening.

Breast screening starting in some programmes towards the end of the decade.

Awareness of perimenopause, which typically begins in the mid-forties and is frequently attributed to everything else.

Eye examinations, since presbyopia arrives and glaucoma risk begins to rise.

And resistance training, since muscle and bone decline begins from around this point and this is the decade where the countermeasure is most valuable.

Fifties

The decade with the most screening.

Bowel cancer screening, which starts in this decade in most programmes and which has among the best evidence of any screening test.

Breast screening.

Continued cervical screening.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for men in some programmes.

Cardiovascular risk assessment and management.

Diabetes screening.

Menopause management, including consideration of bone and cardiovascular implications.

Prostate discussion for men, which is a shared decision rather than a programme.

Shingles vaccination in some programmes.

And hearing, which begins to decline and where the delay before acting is typically a decade.

Sixties and beyond

Where the emphasis shifts.

Continued cancer screening within programme age ranges, noting that most programmes have an upper age limit beyond which self-referral is sometimes possible.

Influenza, pneumococcal, shingles and RSV vaccination as eligible.

Falls risk assessment, which is among the highest-value interventions in older adults.

Bone health and fracture risk assessment.

Medication review, which becomes increasingly important as lists lengthen.

Eye examination annually or as advised, given cataract, glaucoma and macular disease.

Hearing assessment.

Cognitive concerns raised rather than dismissed as age.

And attention to strength, balance and nutrition, which determine independence more than anything else.

The things that apply at every age

Regardless of decade.

Blood pressure.

Not smoking.

Physical activity including strength work.

Alcohol within lower-risk limits.

Dental and eye examinations.

Vaccination.

Mental health.

Sleep.

And prompt assessment of symptoms, which matters more than any scheduled check.

What changes with a condition

Where the schedule differs entirely.

Diabetes: annual retinal screening, foot check, kidney function, blood pressure, lipids and HbA1c.

Hypertension: regular monitoring and medication review.

Asthma and COPD: annual review with inhaler technique check.

Kidney disease: monitoring of function and albuminuria.

Long-term steroid use: bone protection and monitoring.

Inflammatory conditions: monitoring for drug toxicity.

And a family history of specific conditions, which may bring screening forward by years.

Making it happen

Since much of this depends on the individual.

Screening invitations are sent automatically in most programmes and are frequently ignored — attendance is the limiting factor rather than availability.

Registration details being current is what makes invitations arrive, and moving house is the most common reason people fall out of programmes.

Asking at any appointment what you are due for takes a minute.

Keeping your own record of what has been done and when, since records are frequently fragmented.

And knowing that most of what matters is free in systems with public healthcare, which makes non-attendance an expensive habit.

General information only, not medical advice. Programmes and ages vary by country — consult a qualified clinician about which checks apply to you.