Intrinsic capacity, formally defined by the World Health Organization in 2015, is a holistic metric measuring an individual's physical and mental capabilities across five subdomains: cognition, locomotion, sensory capacity, psychological well-being, and vitality. Dr. John Beard, a professor of productive aging at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health who helped develop the concept, explains that it captures attributes "from the skin in" to assess functioning rather than just disease presence. While not yet available as a standard clinical test, experts hope physicians will use it to track health trajectories in older adults, enabling early intervention before disability or mortality risks escalate. Research shows intrinsic capacity correlates with these risks, and its longitudinal tracking could detect decline even in seemingly robust individuals.

Currently, clinical trials are underway, including a real-world study in France where older adults complete regular questionnaires for personalized recommendations, with declining scores triggering medical follow-up. David Furman, a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, notes early intervention is expected to extend lifespan, though data is pending. A similar U.S. study recently launched in New Mexico. Additionally, a new program funded by ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, aims to validate intrinsic capacity as a biomarker to accelerate FDA approval of health span-extending drugs.