Communicating risk to patients can be difficult via traditional methods and sometimes unhelpful. Heart age is an innovative way of communicating CVD risk to better motivate behaviour change.
Heart age is an initial indication of an individual’s overall risk of heart attack or stroke compared to a defined healthy range. A heart age that is older than an individual’s biological age may be suggestive of elevated CVD risk or presence of at least one risk factor (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Example of someone with a higher heart age than their actual age.
The Heart Foundation’s Heart Age Calculator:
Has been shown to motivate eligible individuals to improve their diet, increase their physical activity levels and see their GP for a clinical check-up.1
Important note: The Heart Age Calculator is not a clinical decision-making tool and does not replace the need for patients to see their doctor for a more comprehensive assessment such as a Heart Health Check.
Take the heart age test to check your heart health. Use our heart health check calculator to understand your risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
A full list of ready-to-use resources available in this Toolkit
Common challenges faced when implementing the Heart Health Check and recommendations for overcoming them
Last updated02 June 2025
Last reviewed16 March 2024