Do we actually need aging clocks?

Area of Science:

• Biomedical research
• Machine learning applications
• Gerontology

Background:

• Aging clocks are machine learning models estimating biological age to assess health.
• Their clinical utility is debated due to inherent limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Critically evaluate the practical value of aging clocks.
• Compare aging clocks against established health assessment tools.
• Identify areas for improvement in aging clock methodology.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of aging clocks.
• Review of clinical validation studies.
• Benchmarking against expert risk scores and direct outcome predictors.

Main Results:

• Aging clocks suffer from abstract definitions and inconsistent clinical validation.
• Prediction uncertainty is often disregarded, limiting actionable insights.
• Established methods may offer superior or comparable predictive power.

Conclusions:

• Researchers must explicitly justify the advantage of aging clocks over existing alternatives.
• Focus should be on improving clock transparency, validation, and uncertainty quantification.
• Ensuring actionable insights is crucial for the advancement of aging clock technology.