Why do elders need health assessment?

• The main purpose of health assessment is to detect the diseases and commence treatment as early as possible, for the better control of diseases and reduce the risk of complications and mortality in some cases.
• For some chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension, one may be asymptomatic at the early stage, but would have complications that can affect the elders adversely. In these cases, early detection can aid in better control of the disease. Therefore, elders should have regular health assessment for these diseases.
• Other than detecting chronic diseases, health assessment can also identify health risk factors (such as unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, smoking etc.) or functional disabilities (such as problems in hearing, vision, balancing, etc.) of the elder. This can aid the healthcare professionals to provide health advice, counselling and referrals as appropriate to reduce the risk of diseases and its complications; or accidents.

Can health assessment detect every disease?

• Not all diseases can be detected early via health assessment. Only a few chronic diseases and some slowly progressing cancers such as colorectal cancer and cervical cancer can be detected by health screening.
• Therefore, elders should not rely solely on the health assessment. Instead, they should always pay attention to any changes in body conditions and seek medical advice if in doubt.

What should a health assessment include?

• A comprehensive health assessment should include history taking, physical examination and appropriate investigations. The results should be evaluated and interpreted by doctors.

How should I choose among the various health check plans/investigations?

• The health check plan should be tailor-made for the individual and preferably by family doctors.
• Certain investigations are considered "basic" as the diseases they test for are common and the investigations are not invasive. However, there is no "plan" that suits every person. Unnecessary investigation will waste money and time and some investigations are invasive and carry risks. On the other hand, some investigations are only applicable to individuals with higher risk of developing that particular condition. Therefore, it is advisable to consult family doctors to recommend investigations based on one’s medical history, risk factors and family history.

Do normal results of investigation imply perfect health?

• No investigation would be completely accurate. There may be "false negative" and "false positive" results. Furthermore, some occult diseases are difficult to detect.

What is "false negative" and "false positive"?

• "False negative" refers to the situation when the test fails to detect the presence of disease in a person with that particular disease. "False negative" can result in delay in diagnosis and treatment.
• "False positive" refers to a false alarm when the test classifies a healthy person to have a particular disease. This can result in unnecessary anxiety and wastage of money due to further unnecessary follow up tests.

My health assessment results are normal, does it mean that I can be carefree?

• Some diseases progress rapidly, and some cannot be detected early through the existing tests. For instance, an individual can be diagnosed of lung cancer few months after a normal chest x-ray at the time of check up. Thus, a normal result from health check does not guarantee perfect health.
• As elders are at a higher risk of developing a number of diseases, it is advisable for them to pay attention to any change in body condition and consult doctors if in doubt.
• If there is change in body conditions such as decrease in appetite, unexplained weight loss or change in bowel habit, elders are advised to seek medical advice even if the recent health check result is normal, as these are warning signs of serious illnesses.

If the result of health assessment is normal, when should we have a health assessment again?

• There are some guidelines on the frequency of certain screening (such as blood pressure, blood sugar level, colorectal cancer and cervical cancer) among the general public. For individuals, it is advisable for them to consult their family doctors for a personalized plan based on past health, family history and the result of previous health check.

How to stay healthy?

• A healthy lifestyle is the most effective way of staying healthy. These include no smoking, avoid second-hand smoking, no drinking, regular physical activity, a healthy balanced diet and maintain an optimal body weight.
• Apart from decreasing the risk of developing illnesses, healthy lifestyles can help to slow down the progression of some chronic diseases.