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Review
. 2022 Dec;44(6):2611-2622.
doi: 10.1007/s11357-022-00613-4. Epub 2022 Jul 7.

Biomarkers of aging in real life: three questions on aging and the comprehensive geriatric assessment

Marta Zampino #  1 , M Cristina Polidori #  2   3 , Luigi Ferrucci  1 , Desmond O'Neill  4 , Alberto Pilotto  5   6 , Manfred Gogol #  7   8 , Laurence Rubenstein #  9
Affiliations
Review

Biomarkers of aging in real life: three questions on aging and the comprehensive geriatric assessment

Marta Zampino et al. Geroscience. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Measuring intrinsic, biological age is a central question in medicine, which scientists have been trying to answer for decades. Age manifests itself differently in different individuals, and chronological age often does not reflect such heterogeneity of health and function. We discuss here the value of measuring age and aging using the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), cornerstone of geriatric medicine, and operationalized assessment tools for prognosis. Specifically, we review the benefits of employing the multidimensional prognostic index (MPI), which collects information about eight domains relevant for the global assessment of the older person (functional and cognitive status, nutrition, mobility and risk of pressure sores, multi-morbidity, polypharmacy, and co-habitation), in the evaluation of the functional status, and in the prediction of health outcomes for older adults. Further integration of biological markers of aging into multidimensional prognostic tools is warranted, as well as actions which could facilitate prognostic assessments for older persons in all healthcare settings.

Keywords: Biological aging; Comprehensive geriatric assessment; Frailty; Multidimensional prognostic index.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biological, phenotypic, and functional aging and examples of the mechanisms involved
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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