Most adults in the United States have a “heart age” that is older than their actual age, according to a new study led by Northwestern Medicine. The research found that this gap between heart age and chronological age is more pronounced among men, people with lower incomes or education, and those who identify as Black or Hispanic.
The study, published July 30 in JAMA Cardiology, introduced a free online tool that calculates an individual’s heart age using common health data such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking status, and diabetes. The calculator is based on the American Heart Association’s PREVENT equations and aims to present cardiovascular risk in terms of age rather than percentage risk. Researchers emphasized that the tool should be used alongside medical advice from healthcare professionals.
“We hope this tool helps doctors and patients discuss risk for heart disease more effectively so we can better inform what therapies can prevent heart attacks, stroke or heart failure events from ever happening,” said senior author Dr. Sadiya Khan, the Magerstadt professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
To test the calculator’s effectiveness, researchers analyzed data from over 14,000 U.S. adults aged 30 to 79 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2011 and 2020. None had a prior history of cardiovascular disease.
Results showed that women had an average heart age of 55.4 years compared to their actual average age of 51.3 years. For men, the difference was larger: an average heart age of 56.7 versus an actual average age of 49.7 years.
Among men with a high school education or less, nearly one-third had a heart age more than ten years older than their real age. The difference was also wider among Black and Hispanic adults compared to other groups.
Specifically, Black men had a heart age averaging 8.5 years older than their actual age; for Hispanic men it was 7.9 years; Asian men saw a gap of 6.7 years; white men experienced a gap of 6.4 years. Among women: Black women averaged a gap of 6.2 years; Hispanic women had a gap of 4.8 years; white women saw a difference of 3.7 years; Asian women had the smallest gap at 2.8 years.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S., despite improvements in public health over time—a trend partly attributed to underuse of preventive care among adults who could benefit from it.
“Many people who should be on medicine to lower their risk for heart attack, stroke or heart failure are not on these medications. We hope this new heart age calculator will help support discussions about prevention and ultimately improve health for all people,” said Khan, who is also an associate professor at Feinberg and serves as a Northwestern Medicine preventive cardiologist.
Khan noted that effective options exist to slow down aging if risks are identified early—something especially important for younger individuals who may not consider themselves at risk for heart disease.
“The important thing is that we have very good options available in our toolbox to help slow that aging down if we can identify it. This may be even more important in younger people who don’t often think about their risk for heart disease,” she said.
Researchers plan further studies to determine whether presenting cardiovascular risk as “heart age” improves outcomes and increases understanding about preventive therapy needs.