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Eye checks and glaucoma
No country in the region invites adults for an eye test. That matters because glaucoma destroys peripheral vision silently, and the vision you have already lost to it does not come back.
This page describes screening programmes; it is not a diagnosis, not a personal risk assessment and not a substitute for your own health service. Age bands are set nationally and change — the invitation you receive, and the body named on your country page, outrank anything written here. Screening is for people without symptoms: a new lump, blood you can see, a mole that has changed, unexplained weight loss or a sudden change in vision or hearing needs a clinician now, whatever a recent screening result said.
Where it is organised
Nowhere in this region as an invitation programme. That is a decision rather than an oversight, and the section below explains the reasoning. It also means nothing will arrive in the post: if this is something you want checked, you have to ask for it.
Why the absence of a programme is a problem here
For most conditions on this site, a missing screening programme means the disease is rare, or slow, or the test is poor. Glaucoma is a genuine exception. It is common in older adults, it produces no pain and no blurring, and it takes peripheral vision so gradually and so symmetrically that the brain fills in the gap — people routinely have substantial field loss before they notice anything. Lost visual field does not return. Treatment, usually drops, is effective at stopping further loss. A condition that is common, silent, detectable and treatable is the textbook screening candidate, yet no country in this region issues invitations, so detection depends on people walking into an optician.
What a proper eye examination includes
Reading a chart is the least of it. A full examination measures the pressure inside the eye, examines the optic nerve head at the back for the characteristic cupping glaucoma causes, and — if there is any suspicion — maps the visual field. Pressure alone is not enough: a substantial share of glaucoma occurs at pressures within the normal range, so a test that only puffs air at your eye can miss it. Ask what was actually examined. The same appointment usually picks up cataract, and can show signs of diabetes and high blood pressure in the retina.
Who should go, and how often
There is no national rule, so a sensible default is a full examination every couple of years from around forty and more often after sixty, sooner if you have a first-degree relative with glaucoma, because family history raises risk several-fold and is the single most useful thing you know about yourself here. Diabetes is its own case: diabetic retinal screening is a genuine organised programme in most health systems, arranged through diabetes care rather than through an optician, and it is not optional.
The symptoms that are not screening
Some eye problems are emergencies and belong nowhere near a screening page. Sudden loss of vision, a curtain coming across the field, a shower of new floaters with flashes, sudden double vision, or a painful red eye with vomiting and haloes around lights all need same-day assessment. Gradual dimming, difficulty at night and glare from headlights are more likely to be cataract, which is fixable and worth having examined rather than tolerated.
Sources: National eye care services; no organised adult eye screening programme exists in the Nordic or Baltic countries · checked 2026-09-07
Perguntas frequentes
Is there an eye screening programme for adults?
No country in the Nordic and Baltic region invites adults for a routine eye examination. Detection of glaucoma depends on people booking a test themselves, which is why it is often found late.
How often should adults have their eyes examined?
There is no national rule. A common-sense default is a full examination every couple of years from around forty, more often after sixty, and sooner if a parent or sibling has glaucoma.
Can glaucoma be found by a pressure test alone?
Not reliably. A substantial proportion of glaucoma occurs at pressures in the normal range, so a proper examination also looks at the optic nerve head and, where there is suspicion, maps the visual field.
What eye symptoms are urgent rather than routine?
Sudden vision loss, a curtain across the field, new floaters with flashes, sudden double vision, or a painful red eye with haloes and vomiting all need same-day assessment rather than a routine appointment.
The rest of the surface
Breast cancer screening (mammography)
An X-ray of each breast, read by two radiologists, repeated every two years across a band of ages that starts at 40 in Sweden and 50 almost everywhere else. What it finds, what it misses and what a call-back means.
Cervical screening (HPV test)
Almost every country in the region has switched from looking for abnormal cells to looking for the virus that causes them. The test is better, so the gap between tests is longer — and in several countries you can now take the sample yourself.
Bowel cancer screening (stool test)
A sample from one bowel movement, taken at home and posted. It is the only screening programme in the region that routinely prevents cancers rather than only finding them early — because the follow-up removes the polyp.
Prostate screening (PSA)
Latvia and Lithuania fund PSA testing for men in their fifties and sixties. Sweden assessed the same evidence and recommends against an organised programme. Here is what the trials actually found.
Lung cancer screening (low-dose CT)
The trials are positive and the European recommendation asks countries to build programmes stepwise. In this region it is still pilots rather than invitations — but the eligibility rule is worth knowing.
What screening can and cannot do
Overdiagnosis, false positives, interval cases and lead-time bias — the four ideas behind every disagreement between countries.
All 27 screening pagesIf the result is not normal
The record that makes the appointment shorter
TempoLife keeps weight, blood pressure, sleep and symptoms in one place, so the questions you get asked at a screening appointment already have answers.