Method evidence record

Healthy Aging Index Construction

The Healthy Aging Index (HAI) is a simple composite that summarizes the burden of subclinical physiologic decline across several organ systems into a single score. Introduced by Jason Sanders, Anne Newman, and colleagues in 2014 using the Cardiovascular Health Study, it captures the idea that biological aging is a multisystem process rather than the failure of any one organ. The index combines five readily measured markers, one from each of five physiologic systems: systolic blood pressure (vascular), fasting glucose (metabolic), Mini-Mental State Examination score (cognitive), serum creatinine (renal), and forced vital capacity (pulmonary). Each marker is scored 0, 1, or 2 according to which tertile of risk an individual falls into, and the five scores are summed to give a total from 0 to 10, with higher values indicating worse aging. The HAI predicts mortality and was shown to be heritable, supporting its interpretation as a phenotype of biological aging. Its appeal lies in being inexpensive, transparent, and built from routine clinical measurements rather than specialized assays.

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Healthy Aging Index (Multisystem Physiologic Composite)

Taxonomic method record · process-pipeline / social-gerontology

Sanders, J. L., Minster, R. L., Barmada, M. M., Matteini, A. M., Boudreau, R. M., Christensen, K., Walston, J. D., Newman, A. B. (2014). Heritability of and mortality prediction with a longevity phenotype: the healthy aging index. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 69(4), 479-485. · DOI 10.1093/gerona/glt117

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Related methods

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Used in the same domainBiological Age Estimationmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyDeficit-Accumulation Frailty Indexmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyFried Frailty Phenotypemachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familySuccessful Aging Operationalizationmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.