“Expected Age” Used in Evaluating Results of Multiple Health Examination

Abstract

As an approach to general evaluation of results of multiple health examination, “expected age” was employed. The expected age, which is the so-called “biological age”, is a hypothetical parameter computed mathematically on the basis of actual test results.
The subjects observed were 425 apparently healthy males who were admitted to the Osaka Prefectural Center for Adult Diseases for health examination.
Out of more than 90 routine tests, 10 tests were finally selected on a partial correlation analysis and a trial-and-error method. The multiple regression coefficients of these tests on age were estimated and a numerical formula for the expected age was established.
The formula was applied to 159 normal subjects aged 40 years and over. The mean expected age was 56.32 years and the variance of the difference between the expected age and the calender age was 21.35
Then, the expected ages computed on a group basis of cases with diseases, hypertension, hepatic dysfunction, diabetes mellitus, coronary insufficiency and hypercholesteremia, were compared with calendar ages. The mean expected age was 5-8 years older than the mean calendar age, and in the hypertensives with complications, the difference exceeded 10 years.
In order to evaluate a diagnostic practicability of the formula on an individual basis, cases of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc. were numerically set up and the formula was applied to them. The expected age thus computed indicated formula's high sensitivity in detecting even mild abnormalities.