Screening tests and health counseling are a key part of managing your health. A screening test is done to find disorders or diseases in people who don't have any symptoms. Screening tests are not used to diagnose. They are used to find out if more testing is needed. The goal may be to find a disease early so it can be treated with more success. Or the goal may be to find a disease early so you can make lifestyle changes. You may need regular checkups to help you reduce your risk of disease.
Below are guidelines for men ages 65 and older. Talk with your healthcare provider. Make sure you’re up-to-date on what you need.
We understand gender is a spectrum. We may use gendered terms to talk about anatomy and health risk. Please use this information in a way that works best for you and your provider as you talk about your care.
Screening
Who needs it
How often
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Men ages 65 to 75 who have ever smoked. Men in this age group who have never smoked could still be screened. This depends on their family history or other risk factors they may have.
1-time ultrasound
Unhealthy alcohol use
All men in this age group
At routine exams
Blood pressure
Once a year if your blood pressure is normal. Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg. If your blood pressure is higher than this, follow the advice of your healthcare provider.
Colorectal cancer
All men at average risk in this age group through age 75. For men ages 76 to 85, ask your healthcare provider if you need to keep screening. For men older than 85, screening is not advised.
Talk with your healthcare provider about which test below is right for you:
Colonoscopy every 10 years
Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years (or every 10 years with yearly fecal immunochemical test (FIT) stool test)
CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) every 5 years
Yearly fecal occult blood test
Yearly FIT
Stool DNA test every 1 to 3 years
If you have a test that is not a colonoscopy and have an abnormal test result, you will need a colonoscopy.
You may need to be screened more or less often. This is based on personal or family health history. Talk with your healthcare provider.
Depression
Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes
All men up to age 70 who are overweight or obese
At least every 3 years (yearly if your blood sugar has already begun to rise)
Type 2 diabetes
All men with prediabetes
Every year
Hepatitis C
All men ages 18 to 79
At routine exams. Ask your healthcare provider about how often you need to be screened based on your risk factors.
High cholesterol or triglycerides
At least every 5 years. Ask your healthcare provider about your risk factors.
HIV
Men at higher risk of infection
At routine exams. Talk with your healthcare provider.
Lung cancer
Men between the ages 50 and 80 who are in fairly good health and who:
Smoke or quit in the past 15 years
Have a 20-pack per year smoking history (1 pack a day for 20 years or 2 packs a day for 10 years)
Expert groups vary in their advice. Talk with your healthcare provider.
Yearly lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scan (LDCT). Talk with your healthcare provider about your risk factors.
Obesity
At yearly routine exams
Prostate cancer
All men in this age group, talk to your healthcare provider about the risks and benefits of a digital rectal exam (DRE) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening1
At routine exams, if you decide to be tested
Syphilis
Tuberculosis
Talk with your healthcare provider
Vision
Every 1 to 2 years. If you have a chronic health condition, ask your healthcare provider if you need exams more often.
Health counseling
Diet and exercise
Fall prevention (exercise, vitamin D supplements)
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention
Men at higher risk for infection
Use of tobacco and the health effects it can cause
Every visit