Annual check up: what tests adults need, by age, and where to get them free

An annual check-up is a planned visit to a doctor or nurse when you are not sick. The aim is to find health problems early, when they are easier to treat, and to help you stay well.

Other names you may hear:

• Annual physical exam (APE), the yearly exam many companies give their staff
• Routine check-up or general check-up
• Executive check-up, a large package of tests sold by private hospitals
• Health screening, tests that look for a disease before you have symptoms

Many serious illnesses give no warning signs for years.

• High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms; the only way to know is to measure it. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 44% of adults who have it do not know.
• High blood sugar and high cholesterol may cause no symptoms at first. A simple blood test finds them.
• Type 2 diabetes can stay mild for years. Some people learn they have it only after it has harmed their eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.

Heart disease and stroke, cancer, long-term lung disease and diabetes cause most deaths from long-term illnesses, and many of these deaths happen before age 70. Smoking, harmful drinking, little exercise, an unhealthy diet and extra weight raise the risk, and all of these can be changed.

WHO notes that finding and treating these illnesses early can reduce the need for more expensive treatment later.

1. Your health: symptoms, past illnesses (such as asthma, TB, diabetes or cancer), allergies and illnesses in your family.
2. Your habits and mood: smoking or vaping, alcohol, food, exercise, sleep and low mood. Answer honestly; the staff ask to help, not to judge.
3. Your medicines, vitamins, supplements and herbal products.
4. Measurements: blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Some clinics also measure your waist and check your eyesight.
5. A physical exam, then lab tests if you need them.
6. A plan: what was found, what to change, and when to come back.

At a YAKAP clinic, your first visit of the year is the First Patient Encounter (FPE). The clinic records your health information to find your risks. This screening does not count as a consultation; once it is done, the YAKAP doctor can assess you and order tests.

No single list fits everyone; your doctor decides. This checklist follows MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine, based on US expert advice) and WHO. PhilHealth's own list is at the end.

All adults, at every check-up: blood pressure, weight and BMI, and questions about mood, smoking, alcohol, diet and exercise. See a dentist once or twice a year.

Ages 18 to 39

• Blood pressure: at least every 3 to 5 years if normal; more often if you are overweight, have diabetes or kidney problems, or a parent, brother or sister has high blood pressure.
• Cholesterol (lipid profile): first test at age 20, then every 4 to 6 years if you have no heart risks.
• Blood sugar: from age 35 if you are overweight, then every 3 years. Earlier if diabetes runs in your family or you have high blood pressure.
• HIV and hepatitis C: at least one test as an adult.
• Cervical cancer (women): WHO advises screening from age 30 with an HPV test every 5 to 10 years (from 25, every 3 to 5 years, for women living with HIV). Where a Pap smear alone is used, it is usually repeated every 3 years. PhilHealth also lists VIA: the health worker looks at the cervix after applying a mild vinegar (acetic acid) solution.

Ages 40 to 64

• Blood pressure: at least once a year.
• Breast cancer (women): a mammogram is generally advised from 40, every 1 to 2 years.
• Cervical cancer (women): keep up the regular screening that starts at 30.
• Colon cancer: from 45 to 75, such as a yearly stool test for hidden blood or a colonoscopy every 10 years. Earlier if a close relative had colon cancer or polyps.
• Lung cancer: a yearly low-dose chest CT scan if you are 50 to 80, have smoked at least 20 pack-years (for example, one pack a day for 20 years), and still smoke or quit within the past 15 years.
• Prostate cancer (men): from 55 to 69, talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of the PSA blood test.
• Eyes: an eye exam every 2 to 4 years from 40 to 54, then every 1 to 3 years.
• Bones: from 50, ask about a bone density test if you smoke, drink heavily, are very thin, take steroids long-term or broke a bone after 50.

Age 65 and over

• Yearly blood pressure, plus sugar and cholesterol checks as advised.
• A bone density test for all women, to look for thin bones (osteoporosis).
• An eye exam every 1 to 2 years, and a hearing test if you notice hearing loss.
• Ask about falls and your medicines, and which cancer screenings are still useful. Most women can stop cervical screening after 65 if their recent tests were normal.

If you have diabetes, have the back of your eyes checked every year.

Vaccines: adults are advised a flu shot every year and a tetanus-diphtheria booster every 10 years. A shingles vaccine is advised from 50 and a pneumonia (pneumococcal) vaccine from 65; ask your doctor where you can get them.

PhilHealth's list. PhilHealth's 2024 list of tests by life stage for its primary care clinics recommends fasting blood sugar, OGTT and a lipid profile from 40, a Pap smear or VIA from 20 (you may decline it), the stool test for hidden blood from 50, a mammogram from 50 to 69 (as needed from 40) and an ECG from 60. Other tests depend on what your YAKAP doctor finds.

Your PhilHealth YAKAP clinic is the main way to get a free yearly check-up. YAKAP, the expanded PhilHealth Konsulta, is for every Filipino. PhilHealth reported 4,287 YAKAP clinics in May 2026; its list includes many rural health units (RHUs), municipal health offices and city health centers, plus private clinics.

1. Have your PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) ready.
2. Choose your YAKAP clinic in the eGovPH app, on the PhilHealth Member Portal or at a PhilHealth office. The clinic can also help you do it online.
3. Go for your First Patient Encounter. Bring a valid ID. The clinic confirms it is really you with a quick face check.
4. Sign the yearly agreement with the clinic (the YAKAP Empanelment Slip, also called the Mutual Care Agreement).
5. See the YAKAP doctor. If the clinic has no lab, it sends you to a partner lab, still covered.

Make the First Patient Encounter a yearly habit. If you chose a clinic but never had your FPE during the year, PhilHealth does not keep you at that clinic for the next year, and you must choose one again. Our PhilHealth YAKAP guide covers registration, transfers and medicines.

If you are employed, ask HR whether your company gives an annual physical exam (APE). Bring any abnormal result to your YAKAP doctor.

Find a health center near you or ask our prevention assistant which tests to ask about.

Under PhilHealth's YAKAP rules as published in 2025 and 2026:

• Public YAKAP clinics, such as RHUs and health centers: covered check-ups and lab tests are free.
• Private YAKAP clinics are allowed to charge, but no more than ₱900 for each patient in a year. It is a yearly total, not a fee for every visit.
• Covered lab tests, when your YAKAP doctor orders them, include CBC (complete blood count), lipid profile, FBS, OGTT, HbA1c, creatinine (a kidney test), urinalysis, fecalysis, stool test for hidden blood, chest X-ray, ECG, some ultrasounds, mammogram and Pap smear.
• Cancer screening (mammogram, breast ultrasound, low-dose chest CT, liver ultrasound, alpha-fetoprotein test, colonoscopy): with a referral from your YAKAP doctor, the accredited screening facility should not charge you. Ask your YAKAP clinic which facilities near you take the referral.
• Medicines, if you need treatment and your YAKAP doctor prescribes them: covered up to ₱20,000 a year per person through GAMOT.

Outside YAKAP, private labs and hospital packages set their own prices, so ask for an itemized list first. Tests not on the YAKAP list, such as the PSA or HPV test, may cost extra. More tests are not always better: unneeded tests can find harmless things that lead to more tests and worry.

Ask if you need to fast. A fasting blood sugar test needs no food or drinks except water for at least 8 hours. Other tests, such as cholesterol, usually need 8 to 12 hours; the clinic tells you how long. The HbA1c test (your average blood sugar over about 3 months) needs no fasting. If you are not told to fast, don't.

While fasting, plain water is allowed. Skip coffee, juice, soft drinks, gum, smoking and exercise. Book an early morning test and bring a snack for afterwards.

Don't stop your maintenance medicines on your own. Ask the clinic beforehand whether to take them that morning, especially if you take medicines for diabetes. If you ate by mistake, tell the staff.

Bring:

• A valid ID (your PhilSys National ID if you have one) and your PhilHealth PIN
• A list of your medicines, vitamins and herbal products
• Your family's history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke or cancer
• Old lab results and home blood pressure readings
• Your questions, written down

Keep a copy of every result in one folder, so your doctor can compare them over the years.

• Normal: keep your healthy habits and come back when advised.
• Borderline, such as a blood pressure top number of 120 to 129: ask how to keep it from rising and when to recheck.
• High blood pressure reading: one reading is not enough. WHO says high blood pressure is diagnosed when readings are 140/90 or higher on two different days. See our high blood pressure guide.
• Abnormal sugar, cholesterol or other result: talk it over with your doctor. Don't start medicines on your own or borrow someone else's maintenance medicines.

"Wala naman akong nararamdaman." (I feel fine.) That is the best time for a check-up. Blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol problems are often silent.

"Baka may makita pa silang sakit." (They might find something.) That fear is understandable, but a problem found early is usually easier and cheaper to treat. Many people simply learn they are fine.

"Mahal magpa-check-up." (It's too expensive.) Covered check-ups and lab tests are free at public YAKAP clinics, and private YAKAP clinics can charge only up to ₱900 for the whole year.

"My vitamins and herbal remedies keep me healthy." They cannot show your blood pressure or blood sugar. Keep them on your medicine list for the doctor.