What Health Screenings Do I Need? A Preventive Care Guide

Between work, fam­i­ly, and every­thing else on your cal­en­dar, rou­tine health­care appoint­ments can eas­i­ly get pushed to the bot­tom of the list. Maybe it’s been a while since your last phys­i­cal, or you’re not sure when you’re due for a mam­mo­gram or colonoscopy.

Pre­ven­tive care helps you stay ahead of poten­tial health con­cerns, often before symp­toms appear. And with so many dif­fer­ent screen­ing rec­om­men­da­tions, know­ing where to start can feel overwhelming.

Here’s a guide to the health screen­ings and appoint­ments worth pri­or­i­tiz­ing, and how your Duly care team can help you stay on track.

1. Annu­al Phys­i­cals: Your Start­ing Point for Pre­ven­tive Care

Your annu­al phys­i­cal is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to check in on your over­all health, review any changes and make a plan for the year ahead.

Dur­ing your vis­it, your pri­ma­ry care provider may:

• Review your per­son­al and fam­i­ly health history
• Check your blood pres­sure and oth­er impor­tant health measurements
• Dis­cuss your nutri­tion, phys­i­cal activ­i­ty, sleep and men­tal health
• Review med­ica­tions and rec­om­mend­ed vaccinations
• Deter­mine whether blood­work or addi­tion­al test­ing is appropriate
• Help you sched­ule rec­om­mend­ed can­cer screen­ings and spe­cial­ty appointments

Even if you’re feel­ing well, reg­u­lar vis­its help your provider get to know your health his­to­ry and rec­og­nize changes over time.

2. Can­cer Screen­ings: What You Need and When

Many can­cers devel­op with­out notice­able symp­toms in their ear­ly stages. Rec­om­mend­ed screen­ings can help detect cer­tain can­cers soon­er, when treat­ment is often most effective.

The screen­ings you need depend on your age, health his­to­ry and indi­vid­ual risk factors.

Breast Can­cer Screening

For most women, screen­ing mam­mo­grams begin at age 40. Your provider can help deter­mine how fre­quent­ly you should be screened based on your per­son­al risk fac­tors and fam­i­ly history.

Col­orec­tal Can­cer Screening

Adults at aver­age risk should begin col­orec­tal can­cer screen­ing at age 45. Depend­ing on your health his­to­ry and pref­er­ences, options may include a colonoscopy or cer­tain stool-based tests.

A colonoscopy can also help pre­vent col­orec­tal can­cer by iden­ti­fy­ing and remov­ing pre­can­cer­ous polyps before they devel­op into cancer.

Cer­vi­cal Can­cer Screening

Cer­vi­cal can­cer screen­ing gen­er­al­ly begins at age 21. Depend­ing on your age and health his­to­ry, your provider may rec­om­mend a Pap test, human papil­lo­mavirus (HPV) test­ing or a com­bi­na­tion of both.

Under updat­ed screen­ing guid­ance, most patients ages 21 to 29 receive Pap test­ing every three years, while pri­ma­ry HPV test­ing every five years is pre­ferred for patients ages 30 to 65 at aver­age risk.

Your OB-GYN or PCP can help deter­mine the right sched­ule for you.

Prostate Can­cer Screening

Prostate can­cer screen­ing typ­i­cal­ly involves a blood test that mea­sures prostate-spe­cif­ic anti­gen (PSA). Whether and when to begin screen­ing depends on your age, fam­i­ly his­to­ry and oth­er risk factors.

For many men, the deci­sion about PSA screen­ing begins with a con­ver­sa­tion with their provider in their 50s. Some men with increased risk may ben­e­fit from dis­cussing screen­ing earlier.

Lung Can­cer Screening

Lung can­cer screen­ing uses a low-dose CT scan to iden­ti­fy poten­tial con­cerns before symp­toms appear.

Annu­al screen­ing is rec­om­mend­ed for qual­i­fy­ing adults ages 50 to 80 who have a smok­ing his­to­ry of at least 20 pack-years and cur­rent­ly smoke or quit with­in the past 15 years.

3. Heart Health, Dia­betes and Bone Den­si­ty Screenings

Can­cer screen­ings are impor­tant, but pre­ven­tive care also helps iden­ti­fy oth­er con­di­tions that can affect your long-term health.

Some of the most com­mon screen­ings to dis­cuss with your pri­ma­ry care provider include:

• Blood pres­sure: High blood pres­sure often devel­ops with­out symp­toms. Reg­u­lar checks can help iden­ti­fy poten­tial con­cerns and reduce your risk of heart dis­ease and stroke.
• Cho­les­terol: Blood tests can help assess cho­les­terol lev­els and your risk for car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease. The rec­om­mend­ed test­ing fre­quen­cy depends on your age, health his­to­ry and risk factors.
• Dia­betes: Blood glu­cose or A1C test­ing can help iden­ti­fy pre­di­a­betes or type 2 dia­betes. Screen­ing is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant for adults ages 35 to 70 who have over­weight or obe­si­ty, as well as oth­ers with increased risk.
• Bone den­si­ty: Bone den­si­ty test­ing helps iden­ti­fy osteo­poro­sis and frac­ture risk. Screen­ing is gen­er­al­ly rec­om­mend­ed for women begin­ning at age 65 and may be appro­pri­ate ear­li­er for those with addi­tion­al risk factors.
• Vac­ci­na­tions: Stay­ing cur­rent on rec­om­mend­ed vac­cines, includ­ing sea­son­al flu shots and oth­er age-appro­pri­ate immu­niza­tions, is anoth­er impor­tant part of pre­ven­tive care.

Not every­one needs every test. Your pri­ma­ry care provider can review your health his­to­ry and rec­om­mend appro­pri­ate screen­ings based on your needs.

4. Wom­en’s Well­ness Visits

A rou­tine wom­en’s well­ness vis­it with your OB-GYN or pri­ma­ry care provider gives you ded­i­cat­ed time to focus on your repro­duc­tive health, pre­ven­tive screen­ings and chang­ing health­care needs.

Depend­ing on your age and stage of life, these appoint­ments may include con­ver­sa­tions about:

• Men­stru­al health and birth control
• Preg­nan­cy plan­ning and pre­na­tal care
• Cer­vi­cal and breast can­cer screening
• Per­i­menopause and menopause symptoms
• Pelvic health and uri­nary concerns
• Sex­u­al health and oth­er per­son­al health questions

Some exams and screen­ings aren’t nec­es­sary every year, but reg­u­lar well­ness vis­its pro­vide an oppor­tu­ni­ty to review your health and dis­cuss any changes.

5. School, Sports and Well-Child Physicals

Chil­dren need pre­ven­tive care, too. Reg­u­lar well-child vis­its help your pedi­a­tri­cian mon­i­tor growth, devel­op­ment and over­all health while keep­ing rec­om­mend­ed vac­ci­na­tions up to date.

In Illi­nois, school phys­i­cals are gen­er­al­ly required for chil­dren enter­ing preschool, kinder­garten, sixth grade and ninth grade, as well as stu­dents trans­fer­ring from out of state. Stu­dent ath­letes also need appro­pri­ate sports phys­i­cal doc­u­men­ta­tion to par­tic­i­pate in school sports.

Sched­ul­ing these appoint­ments ahead of the school year gives your fam­i­ly more flex­i­bil­i­ty and helps avoid the back-to-school rush.

6. Skin Exams and Der­ma­tol­ogy Visits

When was the last time you took a clos­er look at your skin?

A new mole, a spot that’s chang­ing col­or or shape, or a sore that won’t heal can be signs that some­thing needs attention.

Not every­one needs an annu­al full-body skin exam, but peo­ple with cer­tain risk fac­tors, includ­ing a per­son­al or fam­i­ly his­to­ry of skin can­cer, may ben­e­fit from reg­u­lar der­ma­tol­o­gist visits.

If you notice a con­cern­ing change, don’t wait for your next phys­i­cal to have it evaluated.

7. Men­tal Health and Ongo­ing Care Appointments

Pre­ven­tive care includes your men­tal health, too.

Changes in mood, increased stress, anx­i­ety, dif­fi­cul­ty sleep­ing or feel­ing over­whelmed are all worth dis­cussing with your pri­ma­ry care provider. Your provider can help you under­stand what’s hap­pen­ing and con­nect you with behav­ioral and men­tal health spe­cial­ists when addi­tion­al sup­port is needed.

It’s also impor­tant to keep up with sched­uled fol­low-up vis­its if you’re man­ag­ing an ongo­ing con­di­tion, tak­ing pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tions or receiv­ing treat­ments such as dial­y­sis or can­cer care. These appoint­ments help your care team mon­i­tor your health and make adjust­ments when needed.

Fre­quent­ly Asked Questions

How do I know which health screen­ings I’m due for?

Start with your pri­ma­ry care provider. Your PCP can review your age, med­ical his­to­ry, fam­i­ly his­to­ry and pre­vi­ous screen­ing results to rec­om­mend which tests you need and when to sched­ule them.

Do I need health screen­ings if I feel healthy?

Yes. Some con­di­tions, includ­ing high blood pres­sure, dia­betes and cer­tain can­cers, can devel­op with­out notice­able symp­toms. Rec­om­mend­ed screen­ings help iden­ti­fy poten­tial con­cerns before they begin affect­ing your dai­ly health.

Do I need every health screen­ing each year?

No. Screen­ing inter­vals vary depend­ing on the test, your age and your indi­vid­ual risk fac­tors. For exam­ple, cer­tain can­cer screen­ings may be rec­om­mend­ed every few years, while oth­er health mea­sure­ments may be checked more frequently.

Are pre­ven­tive screen­ings cov­ered by insurance?

Many health insur­ance plans cov­er rec­om­mend­ed pre­ven­tive ser­vices at no addi­tion­al cost when you vis­it an in-net­work provider. How­ev­er, cov­er­age can vary based on your plan, the screen­ing and whether addi­tion­al diag­nos­tic test­ing is need­ed. Check with your insur­ance provider to under­stand your ben­e­fits before scheduling.

What if I’ve missed a screen­ing or haven’t seen my doc­tor in years?

You can start by sched­ul­ing a pri­ma­ry care appoint­ment. Your provider can review your med­ical his­to­ry, iden­ti­fy any over­due screen­ings and help you pri­or­i­tize your next steps. You don’t have to sched­ule every­thing at once.

Sources

• U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force: Breast Can­cer Screening
• U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force: Col­orec­tal Can­cer Screening
• Amer­i­can Col­lege of Obste­tri­cians and Gyne­col­o­gists: Cer­vi­cal Can­cer Screen­ing, 2026
• U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force: Lung Can­cer Screening
• U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force: Pre­di­a­betes and Type 2 Dia­betes Screening
• U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force: Osteo­poro­sis Screening
• Illi­nois Depart­ment of Pub­lic Health: School Health Program