Cardiovascular Age
Cardiovascular Age is a derived estimate that expresses cardiovascular fitness or heart health as an equivalent chronological age. The metric translates physiological measurements (such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and activity patterns) into an age comparison: a cardiovascular age lower than chronological age suggests cardiovascular characteristics typical of a younger population; a higher cardiovascular age suggests characteristics typical of an older population.
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Key Takeaways
Represents comparison of cardiovascular metrics to age-based population norms.
Expresses fitness indicators in intuitive age units.
Lower than chronological age suggests favorable cardiovascular indicators.
Changes gradually over weeks to months.
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How It's Measured
Oura calculates Cardiovascular Age using algorithms that compare the user's physiological measurements against population reference data stratified by age.
Common Influences
Aerobic fitness: Regular cardiovascular exercise is associated with more favorable (younger) cardiovascular age.
Deep Dive
Cardiovascular Age represents a relative comparison of cardiovascular indicators against population-based age norms. It provides an intuitive framing for fitness-related metrics by translating them into years.
A useful framing is that cardiovascular age contextualizes raw metrics. Rather than requiring interpretation of HRV or resting heart rate values in absolute terms, the metric places them on a familiar scale (age in years) that may be more immediately meaningful.
Cardiovascular fitness markers change with age in predictable patterns across populations. Heart rate variability tends to decrease with age; resting heart rate patterns change; aerobic capacity declines. These population trends create reference curves that allow individual measurements to be compared against age-based expectations.
The physiological basis involves age-related changes in cardiac function, autonomic regulation, and vascular health. However, cardiovascular age is a statistical comparison against population norms, not a direct measurement of biological age or cardiovascular health.