Preventive Guidelines for Healthy Women

Hill Physicians recommends the following screenings and exams for healthy women. These guidelines are general in nature and the judgment and experience of your physician, informed by these standards of care and as applied to your specific case, are the final determinants of patient care.

Recommended Screenings

Screening/Procedure	Age Range	Frequency
Health assessment or “physical”	19 to 39 years	As needed
	40 to 64 years	Every 3 to 5 years
	65 and older	Annually
Blood pressure	All ages	Once every 2 years
Cholesterol	20 to 45 years	One time if no other risk factors for coronary heart disease are present
	20 to 45 years	Once every 5 years if other risk factors for coronary heart disease are present
	45 years and older	Once every 5 years or more frequently if family history of high cholesterol is present
Colorectal cancer screening	50 years and older	Every 1 to 5 years depending on screening method (fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy)
Clinical breast exam	All ages	Annually
Mammogram	40 to 50 years	Every 1 to 2 years
Mammogram	50 years and older	Annually
Cervical cancer screening	19 to 64 years	Before age 30: Every 2 years after 3 normal screenings At/after age 30: Every 3 years after 3 normal screenings
Pelvic exam	All ages	Annually
Osteoporosis screening	All ages when one or more risk factors present 65 years and older	Every 5 years

Recommended Vaccinations and Immunizations

Vaccination	Age Range	Frequency
Tetanus and diphtheria (Tdap) booster	All ages	Every 10 years
Flu shot (Influenza vaccine)	50 years and older All ages in contact with high-risk persons	Annually during fall months
Pneumococcal vaccine	50 years and older with high-risk conditions	Annually
Pneumococcal vaccine	65 years and older	At least once
Tuberculin (PPD)	35 years and younger	Once during lifetime
Other vaccinations	All ages	As needed without proof of previous immunity