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

. 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. . 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- referring to SPA perceived by oneself, and SPA- 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. . Chronologically younger men and women ≤45 years with older SPA- had unexpectedly lower PWV ( - 0.39,  < .001 and  - 0.40,  < .001, respectively), independently of cardiovascular risk factors and social health determinants, compared with subjects with younger SPA-. Lower PWV was also observed in women ≤45 years with older SPA- ( - 0.24 m/s,  = .005) compared with younger SPA-, but not in men. A similar pattern between SPA-, SPA- 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- had increased vascular ageing (PWV 2.57,  = .03). . Self-perceived age is a subjective cognitive variable inversely associated with vascular ageing particularly among chronologically younger adults ≤45 years.