Overview

• Researchers published the PREVENT heart age calculator on July 30 in JAMA Cardiology and made it freely available online for clinician use.
• The tool uses American Heart Association PREVENT equations to convert blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes status and smoking history into an individualized heart age.
• Validation on over 14,000 US adults aged 30–79 without prior cardiovascular disease showed women’s heart ages averaged 4.1 years above their actual age and men’s averaged 7 years older.
• The largest heart age gaps appeared among Black and Hispanic participants and those with lower education or income, with some individuals’ hearts more than a decade older than their years.
• Researchers are now studying whether framing risk as heart age boosts patient engagement, preventive therapy uptake and long-term cardiovascular outcomes.