Health screening

Your options in Singapore include Public hospitals, Private hospitals, Private clinics.

Please contact all centers directly for the up to date costs.

Although in private hospitals may to be more expensive than public hospitals, please do contact them and compare costs for similar packages.

There is a wide range in prices offered when it comes to health screening depending upon what tests are done. Private hospital screenings are not necessarily more expensive and tend to have higher availability and provide results faster.

Health screenings can either be specific or general. If you suspect or are at risk for a specific ailment (say a hereditary disease), most clinics and hospitals offer a full list of screening procedures for various ailments which you can pick and choose from.

If you’ve got nothing in particular in mind, you can go for a general health screening, often known as a comprehensive health screening. This comprises a physical check-up and several medical tests to screen for common conditions such as diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Going for health screenings is important as you’ll want to detect diseases as soon as possible – early detection generally makes treatment more effective.

The necessity of a comprehensive health screening really depends on your age, health and family history. When in doubt, consult your doctor for specific recommendations.

If you are young, you may not need to undergo checkups annually.

However, after you reach a certain age, eg, 40 or 50 annual comprehensive health screenings are recommended. Your doctor should be able to advise you on what to get screened for and at what age depending on your health and family history. Different countries have different recommendations for what you should check during health screening.

Every basic health screening package should comprise of at least 4 components - your medical history, physical examination, blood tests and other tests.

Medical health assessment: Discussion with your doctor to assess your medical history and lifestyle and identify any potential risks you might have.

Physical examination: The doctor should take your height and weight, measure your basal metabolic index (BMI) and check your vision.

Blood glucose test: A blood sample is taken after overnight fasting, to test for diabetes mellitus.

Cholesterol (lipid) test: A test for high cholesterol,'bad' and 'good' cholesterols as well as heart-related diseases, taken after overnight fasting.

Individual hospitals may offer other medical tests in their basic health screening packages. So apart from checking the price, you also need to know what exactly is in the package. Common add-ons include…

Blood pressure test: The doctor takes your blood pressure to check for hypertension (high blood pressure).

Urine analysis: Your urine is examined as an indicator of your overall health and normal kidney function.

Full blood count: A blood sample is examined to determine if you have anaemia and identify any causes, eg iron deficinecy or vitamin deficiency.

ECG (electrocardiogram): Using electrodes placed on your chest skin, this test records your resting heart activity and checks for any undetected heart conditions.

Some hospitals/clinics will also let you choose some additional tests to your comprehensive package for a fee, which you should consider if there are particular conditions you are worried about or predisposed to.