Reclassification of the conventional risk assessment for aging-related diseases by electrocardiogram-enabled biological age

An artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) model has been developed in a healthy adult population to predict ECG biological age (ECG-BA). This ECG-BA exhibited a robust correlation with chronological age (CA) in healthy adults and additionally significantly enhanced the prediction of aging-related diseases' onset in adults with subclinical diseases. The model showed particularly strong predictive power for cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial occlusive disease, myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease, osteoarthritis, and cancers. When combined with CA, ECG-BA improved diagnostic accuracy and risk classification by 21% over using CA alone, notably offering the greatest improvements in cancer prediction. The net reclassification improvement significantly reduced misclassification rates for disease onset predictions. This comprehensive study validates ECG-BA as an effective supplement to CA, advancing the precision of risk assessments for aging-related conditions and suggesting broad implications for enhancing preventive healthcare strategies, potentially leading to better patient outcomes.