Vascular ageing in relation to chronological and self-perceived age in the general Swedish population

<i>Background</i>. Aortic stiffness is a marker of vascular ageing. Non-conventional risk markers reflecting vascular ageing are largely unexplored. We aimed to investigate the relationship between self-perceived age (SPA) and self-rated health (SRH) with aortic stiffness in the general population. <i>Methods</i>. Cross-sectional assessment of 3760 participants from two Swedish population-based cohorts (mean age 43.5 ± 14.5 years, 53.4% women). Participants completed two self-administered questions about SPA (SPA-<i>self</i> referring to SPA perceived by oneself, and SPA-<i>others</i> referring to SPA perceived by others) graded as: younger, no difference, or older than same-aged/sex peers. SRH was graded as poor versus good. Aortic stiffness (vascular ageing) was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Linear regression was performed stratified by the median age of 45 years. <i>Results</i>. Chronologically younger men and women ≤45 years with older SPA-<i>others</i> had unexpectedly lower PWV (<i>β</i> - 0.39, <i>p</i> < .001 and <i>β</i> - 0.40, <i>p</i> < .001, respectively), independently of cardiovascular risk factors and social health determinants, compared with subjects with younger SPA-<i>others</i>. Lower PWV was also observed in women ≤45 years with older SPA-<i>self</i> (<i>β</i> - 0.24 m/s, <i>p</i> = .005) compared with younger SPA-<i>self</i>, but not in men. A similar pattern between SPA-<i>self</i>, SPA-<i>others</i> and PWV was found in chronologically younger subjects ≤45 years reporting good SRH. On the contrary, chronologically older subjects >45 years reporting poor SRH, with older SPA-<i>others</i> had increased vascular ageing (PWV <i>β</i> 2.57, <i>p</i> = .03). <i>Conclusions</i>. Self-perceived age is a subjective cognitive variable inversely associated with vascular ageing particularly among chronologically younger adults ≤45 years.