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Health Screening Guidelines, Men Ages 65 and Older

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 health care 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	All men in this age group	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 health care provider.
Colorectal cancer	All men at average risk in this age group through age 75. For men ages 76 to 85, ask your health care provider if you need to keep screening. For men older than 85, screening is not advised.	Talk with your health care 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 with FIT every 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 health care provider.
Depression	All men in this age group	At routine exams
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 or as advised by your health care provider
Hepatitis C	All men ages 18 or older	Once in a lifetime or more often for people with ongoing risk factors. Ask your health care provider about how often you need to be screened based on your risk factors.
High cholesterol or triglycerides	All men in this age group	Ask your health care provider about how often you need to be screened based on your risk factors.
HIV	Men at higher risk of infection	At routine exams. Talk with your health care provider.
Lung cancer	Men between ages 50 and 80 who are in fairly good health and who: Smoke or have quit smoking 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 health care provider.	Yearly lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scan (LDCT). Talk with your health care provider about your risk factors.
Obesity	All men in this age group	At yearly routine exams
Prostate cancer	All men in this age group	Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of a digital rectal exam (DRE) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. They can help you decide whether screening is right for you.
Syphilis	Men at higher risk of infection	At routine exams. Talk with your health care provider.
Tuberculosis	Men at higher risk of infection	Talk with your health care provider.
Vision	All men in this age group	Every 1 to 2 years. If you have a chronic health condition, ask your health care provider if you need exams more often.

Health counseling	Who needs it	How often
Diet and exercise	All men in this age group	At routine exams
Fall prevention (exercise, vitamin D supplements)	All men in this age group	At routine exams
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention	Men at higher risk for infection	At routine exams. Talk with your health care provider.
Use of tobacco and the health effects it can cause	All men in this age group	Every visit

Online Medical Reviewer: Rita Sather RN
Online Medical Reviewer: Stacey Wojcik MBA BSN RN
Online Medical Reviewer: Susan K. Dempsey-Walls RN

Date Last Reviewed: 1/1/2025