Assessment of biological age using a profile of physical parameters

Abstract

The present study describes a new approach to the assessment of biological age in adults using a profile of physical parameters. The investigation was based on data from 1086 adult male participants in the aging study of the Gerontology Research Ctr., Baltimore, MD. For each of 24 age-related variables, data were transformed into biological age scores reflecting a man's status relative to his chronological age peers. Analysis of the mean biological age profiles of men who were estimated by physicians as looking older than their age showed them to be biologically older on the profile parameters as well. Comparison of age-corrected scores of 166 men who have died with those of survivors reveals the deceased group to have been biologically older than the survivors at the time they were measured. These results suggest the value of this technique in investigating interindividual variation in the aging process.