Health Screenings in Your 60s

Your 60s are the decade when the screening list starts to change direction. Humanic Blue’s guide tracks tests that arrive around 65 alongside those that reach their end dates. Knowing both halves helps avoid missed tests and unnecessary ones.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends bone-density screening for women from 65 and a one-time ultrasound for some adults ages 65 to 75 to check for an abdominal aortic aneurysm—a bulge in the main artery through the abdomen. Its recommendation covers people in its “men” category who have ever smoked; those categories reflect sex at birth rather than gender identity. The eligibility details appear below.

Other tests continue or become more selective. Cervical screening can stop after 65 only with adequate prior screening and no high-risk condition. Evidence is insufficient for routine anxiety screening from 65, which does not mean ignoring symptoms. Colorectal, breast and eligible lung screening continue on separate schedules. These changes concern disease prevention and function; none guarantees living longer and better.

Which screenings start at 65?

Bone density for women. The USPSTF’s 2025 recommendation supports screening women 65 and older, with earlier screening for postmenopausal women at increased risk. Evidence for screening men is insufficient. The recommendation does not apply to people with a previous fracture from minor trauma or osteoporosis caused by another condition or medication, who need diagnostic or condition-specific care. The test is covered in DEXA Scans Explained.

Aortic aneurysm screening. The USPSTF recommends one-time ultrasound for men 65 to 75 who have ever smoked, commonly defined as at least 100 lifetime cigarettes. The task force says these sex categories reflect sex at birth rather than gender identity, and a clinician can assess which guidance applies. For men who never smoked, it advises selective rather than routine screening. It recommends against routine screening in women who never smoked and have no family history, and finds evidence insufficient for women 65 to 75 who have smoked or have a family history.

Fall prevention. From 65, the USPSTF recommends exercise interventions for adults at increased risk of falls who live at home or elsewhere in the community rather than a care institution. It does not recommend one universal screening test or exercise program; risk can be assessed from falls, mobility and clinical factors. Balance programs are covered in Improve Balance After 60.

What ends in the 60s

Cervical screening. The current final USPSTF recommendation advises against screening after 65 only for people with adequate prior screening who are not otherwise at high risk. If records are incomplete or there is a history of high-grade precancer, cervical cancer, immune suppression or exposure before birth to the medication diethylstilbestrol (DES), ask before stopping. An update is underway, but it has not replaced the current final recommendation.

Anxiety screening. The USPSTF recommends screening adults younger than 65 but finds the evidence insufficient at 65 and older because accuracy and outcome evidence in older adults are inadequate. That is not a recommendation against evaluation: anxiety symptoms still deserve attention. Depression screening has no equivalent upper-age cutoff.

HIV screening. Routine screening is recommended through age 65; it continues beyond that for people at risk.

Approaching end dates. Under current final USPSTF guidance, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood testing is an individual decision for men 55 to 69 and is not recommended routinely from 70; an update is in progress. The USPSTF diabetes recommendation covers adults 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity, while the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 2026 standard starts everyone else by 35 and does not impose the same upper cutoff. See Prostate Health as You Age.

Which qualifications determine whether a screening stopping age applies?

Which screenings continue through your 60s?

These carry over from your 50s, as covered in Health Screenings in Your 50s:

• Colorectal cancer screening through 75.
• Mammograms every two years through 74.
• Lung cancer CT yearly through 80 for people with at least a 20 pack-year history (a pack a day for 20 years, or an equivalent total) who smoke now or quit within 15 years, stopping when eligibility or the ability and willingness to undergo treatment intended to cure the cancer changes.
• Blood pressure and cardiovascular risk review. The USPSTF recommendation on cholesterol-lowering statin medication covers eligible adults ages 40–75. The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) use a different framework in their 2026 blood-fat guideline: PREVENT risk calculators for people without established cardiovascular disease, with ages depending on the prediction period.
• Depression screening.
• Hepatitis C screening through 79, generally once, with repeat testing when exposure risk continues.

Recommendations against testing and gaps in evidence

The USPSTF’s recommendations against screening people without symptoms for ovarian, pancreatic and thyroid cancer, narrowing of the neck arteries and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which obstructs airflow, still apply, as covered in the 50s article. For hearing loss, the USPSTF found the evidence insufficient to recommend for or against screening older adults without symptoms. If you notice trouble hearing, that’s a reason to be tested, as covered in Does Hearing Loss Cause Dementia?

What distinguishes a recommendation against screening from an evidence gap about screening?

What does the Medicare wellness visit include?

Medicare covers a yearly wellness visit that includes a written prevention plan and an assessment of memory and thinking. Medicare.gov says the first visit cannot fall within 12 months of Part B enrollment or the separate Welcome to Medicare preventive visit. The wellness visit is a planning conversation, not a comprehensive physical exam. It costs nothing when the provider accepts Medicare’s approved payment amount; additional services may create charges. How to use it is covered in Longevity Checklist for Your 60s.