For healthcare professionals
Charlson comorbidity index calculator
The Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) adds weighted points for a patient's long-term conditions and for age, and is used to predict 10-year survival in patients with multiple comorbidities. Charlson and colleagues first proposed it in 1987. This calculator is written for clinicians and is not a diagnosis.
Age and conditions
Tick each condition the patient has. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
What you will see
The Charlson comorbidity index, the points behind it, and the estimated 10-year survival from the published formula.
Educational only, not medical advice. Not a diagnosis. Treatment decisions belong to the treating team.
Source
Charlson ME and colleagues, Journal of Chronic Diseases 1987. The weights, the age points and the 10-year survival formula are taken from an open-access (CC BY 4.0) paper by Kolak and colleagues, Nutrients 2022. The same weights appear in Maezawa and colleagues, Journal of Cancer 2019 (CC BY 4.0). The tests check every weight, the age points and the survival formula.
Validated in
The index was first developed to account for the influence of patients' adverse medical conditions in longitudinal studies, and has been used to evaluate comorbidity in many cancers and non-cancer conditions (Maezawa 2019).
Limits
Studies count age points in different ways: this page gives 1 point per decade from age 50, up to 4, as in Kolak 2022, while some studies add points from age 40 (Tian 2017). The 10-year survival figure is a formula estimate for groups, not for one patient.
Weights
| Condition | Points |
|---|---|
| Myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular accident or TIA, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, connective tissue disease, peptic ulcer disease, mild liver disease, uncomplicated diabetes | 1 each |
| Hemiplegia, moderate to severe chronic kidney disease, diabetes with end-organ damage, localized solid tumor, leukemia, lymphoma | 2 each |
| Moderate to severe liver disease | 3 |
| Metastatic solid tumor, AIDS | 6 each |
| Age: each decade from 50 years | 1 per decade, up to 4 |
Source: Kolak and colleagues 2022 (Kolak 2022). The original paper is by Charlson and colleagues (Charlson 1987). Diabetes, liver disease and solid tumor are scored by severity, so pick one level for each.
Age points on this page: under 50 is 0, 50 to 59 is 1, 60 to 69 is 2, 70 to 79 is 3, and 80 or older is 4. In the age-adjusted version used by Tian and colleagues, 1 point is added for each decade after 40, up to 4 (41 to 50 years 1, 51 to 60 years 2, 61 to 70 years 3, 71 or older 4) (Tian 2017).
Estimated 10-year survival
Estimated 10-year survival = 0.983^(e^(CCI x 0.9)) (Kolak 2022).
Worked example: a 72-year-old with congestive heart failure (1) and diabetes with end-organ damage (2) scores 3 for conditions plus 3 for age, a total of 6. Then e^(6 x 0.9) = e^5.4 = 221.4, and 0.983^221.4 = 0.022, an estimated 10-year survival of about 2.2%.
| CCI | Estimated 10-year survival |
|---|---|
| 0 | 98.3% |
| 1 | 95.9% |
| 2 | 90.1% |
| 3 | 77.5% |
| 4 | 53.4% |
| 5 | 21.4% |
| 6 | 2.2% |
Values worked out from the formula above.
Related calculators
For organ failure in critical illness, use the SOFA score calculator. For risk before non-cardiac surgery, see the Revised Cardiac Risk Index, and for blood clot risk in medical inpatients, the Padua prediction score. For fever with neutropenia in cancer, see the MASCC risk index. Other bedside scores are listed under For healthcare professionals.
Sources
- Kolak E, Radić J, Vučković M, Bučan Nenadić D, Begović M, Radić M. Nutritional and hydration status and adherence to dietary recommendations in Dalmatian dialysis patients. Nutrients. 2022;14(17):3553. doi:10.3390/nu14173553. PMID 36079811. Open access (CC BY 4.0). Methods: Charlson comorbidity index weights, age points (1 per decade from 50, maximum 4) and estimated 10-year survival formula. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9460881/
- Maezawa Y, Aoyama T, Kano K, et al. Impact of the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index on the short- and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer. J Cancer. 2019;10(22):5527-5535. doi:10.7150/jca.35465. PMID 31632496. Open access (CC BY 4.0). Charlson weights (Table 1), origin and uses of the index. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6775689/
- Tian Y, Xu B, Yu G, Li Y, Liu H. Age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score as predictor of prolonged postoperative ileus in patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgical resection. Oncotarget. 2017;8(13):20794-20801. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.15285. PMID 28206969. Open access (CC BY 3.0). Age-adjusted index with 1 point per decade after 40, up to 4. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5400545/
- Charlson ME, Pompei P, Ales KL, MacKenzie CR. A new method of classifying prognostic comorbidity in longitudinal studies: development and validation. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(5):373-383. doi:10.1016/0021-9681(87)90171-8. PMID 3558716. Original paper (cited; the weights and formula used here are taken from Kolak 2022, CC BY). doi.org/10.1016/0021-9681(87)90171-8
Written and maintained by the uncovermyrisk.com editorial team. We do not have a medical reviewer; every claim links to its primary source above. Last reviewed: 2026-11-02. Spotted an error? See About.