A longitudinal analysis of factors related to survival in old age.

Data from a longitudinal study of the elderly in rural North Wales are used in an exploratory study of the relationships between very broadly defined social circumstances and longevity. A statistical modeling approach is adopted and has some nonroutine features necessitated by missing data on dates of death. A variety of demographic, socioeconomic, social network, quality-of-life, dependence, and health variables are found, individually, to be related to survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that many of these relationships are spurious and, in particular, there is no prima facie evidence that survival is affected by social networks or quality-of-life factors. However, socioeconomic factors emerge as important for the old elderly.