Year: 2026
Type: editorial
Abstract: Intrinsic capacity: Making health the core outcome of Healthspan researchMajor advances in geroscience, systems biology, and artificial intelligence-combined with unprecedented access to large, deeply phenotyped datasets-mean that for the first time in human history, we may be able to measure health directly, rather than infer it from the presence or absence of disease.Doing so could enable earlier detection of age-related declines and catalyze new interventions to extend healthy longevity.But this shift will require a clear and operationalizable definition of "health" and rigorous methods to assess it.The World Health Organization's (WHO) healthy ageing framework, introduced in the World Report on Ageing and Health (2015), provides a compelling foundation.Rather than focus on the absence of disease, the WHO model frames health from the perspective of functioning [1].A core construct of this framework is intrinsic capacity -"the composite of all the physical and mental capacities of an individual."As a measure of individual level functioning, intrinsic capacity could become a transformative outcome for geroscience research, clinical practice, and population health.Functioning is the health outcome most valued by older adults, so IC has direct relevance to their lived experience.IC is also a continuous outcome enabling monitoring of trajectories over time and early detection when these veer from norms.Trials of interventions looking to influence trajectories would require far shorter followup periods than might be required for disease-based outcomes.Moreover, people age even in the absence of disease.While most biological research has tended to overlook these non disease-related declines, measurement of IC provides a mechanism to explore the biological drivers of these universal changes.Yet the promise of IC will not be realized without conceptual clarity, measurement rigor, and alignment across biological, clinical, and public health domains.
Source: The Journal of Frailty & Aging
Author: John R Beard
Language: English
Topic: Frailty in Older Adults
Subfield: Geriatrics and Gerontology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,850
OpenAlex ID: W7168147270