Health Screening: A Must for All Women

Recommendations by age

Recommendations by risk level (due to genetics, ethnicity or environmental factors)

Recommendations by health condition

Recommendations by lifestyle habits

Health screening All women should go for regular health screenings.

As primary caregivers, women are often too busy looking after their families to take care of their own diet, nutrition and general health needs.

Even if the sniffles come, they may neglect seeing a doctor until it is too late. It’s then only too easy for women to fall prey to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Also, women are more susceptible to conditions such as osteoporosis and cancer of the breast.

But if women look after themselves first, they can enjoy good health and an enhanced quality of life, and do more for their families too. To achieve this optimal state, regular health screenings and preventive care are a must, say experts at the Health Assessment Centre at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group.

So ladies, don’t let your health take a back seat to your family and career. Check out the list of recommended screenings intended for you, given below.

Recommendations by age

For those aged 18 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Obesity	Body mass index (BMI) Waist circumference	Once a year

For those aged 21 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
High blood pressure	Office measurement of blood pressure	At least once every 2 years if diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is below 85 mmHg and systolic blood pressure (SBP) is below 130 mmHg Annually if DBP is 85-89 mmHg or SBP is 130-139 mmHg Every visit to physician for those whose BP is higher or if they have diabetes and any other major coronary risk factor

For those aged 25 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Cervical cancer* *For those who have had sexual intercourse only	Pap smear	Once every three years

For those aged 40 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Diabetes mellitus	Fasting blood glucose	Once every three years
Hyperlipidaemia (High blood cholesterol)	Fasting lipids	Once every three years
Breast cancer	Clinical breast exam Mammogram	Once a year

For those aged 50 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Breast cancer	Mammogram	Once every two years
Colorectal cancer	Faecal immunochemical test (FIT) Colonoscopy	Once a year
	Computed tomography (CT) Colonography	Once every five years, if the initial tests are negative. Or, as advised by doctor.

For those aged 65 and above...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Osteoporosis	Bone mineral density (BMD) scan	As advised by doctor
Visual acuity	Snellen chart	As advised by doctor

Recommendations by risk level (due to genetics, ethnicity or environmental factors)

If you are a BRCA gene carrier...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Breast cancer	Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) breast scan	Once a year
Ovarian cancer	Transvaginal ultrasound	As advised by doctor

If you are from a country where hepatitis B is common...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Hepatitis B	Hepatitis B screening	As advised by doctor

If you are from countries where tuberculosis (TB) is common, or if you come in close contact with TB patients...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Tuberculosis	Chest X-ray	As advised by doctor

If you have a family history of thalassaemia...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Thalassaemia	Thalassaemia screening	As advised by doctor

If you have a family history of kidney disorder/dysfunction...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Kidney disorder/ dysfunction	Kidney function test	Once a year

If you have a strong family history of NPC...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)	Nasoscopy Tumour marker for NPC	As advised by doctor

If you have intermediate coronary heart disease risk…

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Coronary heart disease	Apolipoprotein A Electrocardiography (ECG) High-sensitivity C- reactive protein (hs-CRP) CT coronary calcium score Treadmill stress test	As advised by doctor

If you have a high risk for osteoporosis…

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Osteoporosis	Bone mineral density (BMD) scan	As advised by doctor

Recommendations by health condition

If you have diabetes...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Diabetic retinopathy	Retinal fundal photography	Once a year or more frequently as advised by the doctor*.
Kidney disorder/ dysfunction	Urine analysis	As advised by doctor
Peripheral vascular disease	Ankle-brachial index (ABI)	As advised by doctor
Diabetic microalbuminuria/ albuminuria/ nephropathy	Urine microalbumin/creatinine ratio	Once a year*

* For those with type 1 diabetes, screening should begin five years after diagnosis. For those with type 2 diabetes, screening should begin at diagnosis.

If you are a hepatitis B carrier or have liver cirrhosis...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Liver cancer/ hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)	Alpha-foeto-protein (AFP) Ultrasound of the hepatobiliary system	Once a year

If you have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Kidney disorder/ dysfunction	Urine analysis	As advised by doctor
Peripheral vascular disease (if you have both high blood pressure and hyperlipidaemia)	Ankle-brachial index (ABI)	As advised by doctor

If you are planning to get pregnant...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Anaemia (iron deficiency anaemia)	Full blood count	Once before pregnancy

If you are obese or have autoimmune disease...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Thyroid disorder	Thyroid function test	As advised by doctor

Recommendations by lifestyle habits

If you are a smoker (especially if you’re aged 50 and above)...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Kidney disorder/ dysfunction	Kidney function test/renal panel	Once a year
Peripheral vascular disease	Ankle-brachial index (ABI)	As advised by doctor

If you are exposed to excessive noise

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Hearing loss/ deafness	Audiometry	Once a year

If you practise high-risk sexual behaviour...

Screen for	Health Tests	How Often?
Syphilis	Venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test	As advised by doctor
HIV infection	HIV testing	As advised by doctor

The SGH Health Assessment Centre is a one-stop centre that offers health screening programmes that are tailored to the health needs of each individual. The centre also provides general medical care and follow-up consultations for patients who have identified health problems.

Ref: T12

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