Background: While compression of morbidity has now been studied in multiple cohorts, we hypothesize that centenarians might also have fewer chronic conditions as well. We assume that individuals who die as centenarians have less comorbidities and have a less steep rise of the number of comorbidities over the final years before death compared to those who died as nonagenarians (90-99 years) or octogenarians (80-89 years of age). Methods: This German cohort study used health insurance data. The data contain complete information on diagnoses and health care transactions for the 6 years prior to death. The sample (N = 1,398; 34,735-person calendar quarters) is comprised of three groups of individuals; those who died as centenarians were compared with random samples of individuals who died as nonagenarians or as octogenarians. Community-dwelling and institutionalized individuals were included. Results: One quarter prior to death, individuals who died as centenarians had, on average, 3.3 comorbidities. Octogenarians had 4.6 comorbidities one quarter prior to death. Further, there was a significant time-to-death by age-at-death interaction (B = -.03, p < .001), where centenarians showed a less steep increase in the number of comorbidities than the comparison groups in their last 6 years prior to death. Conclusions: The lower prevalence of comorbidities in individuals who died as centenarians compared with those who died at a younger age reinforces the notion of centenarians as a selective group. Avoiding the confounding and potentially synergistic effects of having multiple chronic illnesses is likely vital to being able to survive to extreme ages.
Background: While compression of morbidity has now been studied in multiple cohorts, we hypothesize that centenarians might also have fewer chronic conditions as well. We assume that individuals who die as centenarians have less comorbidities and have a less steep rise of the number of comorbidities over the final years before death compared to those who died as nonagenarians (90-99 years) or octogenarians (80-89 years of age). Methods: This German cohort study used health insurance data. The data contain complete information on diagnoses and health care transactions for the 6 years prior to death. The sample (N = 1,398; 34,735-person calendar quarters) is comprised of three groups of individuals; those who died as centenarians were compared with random samples of individuals who died as nonagenarians or as octogenarians. Community-dwelling and institutionalized individuals were included. Results: One quarter prior to death, individuals who died as centenarians had, on average, 3.3 comorbidities. Octogenarians had 4.6 comorbidities one quarter prior to death. Further, there was a significant time-to-death by age-at-death interaction (B = -.03, p < .001), where centenarians showed a less steep increase in the number of comorbidities than the comparison groups in their last 6 years prior to death. Conclusions: The lower prevalence of comorbidities in individuals who died as centenarians compared with those who died at a younger age reinforces the notion of centenarians as a selective group. Avoiding the confounding and potentially synergistic effects of having multiple chronic illnesses is likely vital to being able to survive to extreme ages.
Authors: Sarah Marone; Katherine Bloore; Paola Sebastiani; Christopher Flynn; Brittany Leonard; Kelsey Whitaker; Marilyn Mostowy; Thomas T Perls; Stacy L Andersen Journal: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Date: 2020-01-14 Impact factor: 4.077
Authors: Paul Gellert; Raphael Kohl; Kathrin Jürchott; Christian Hering; Annabell Gangnus; Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; Adelheid Kuhlmey; Antje Schwinger Journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc Date: 2022-05-17 Impact factor: 7.802
Authors: Eric S Orwoll; Jack Wiedrick; Carrie M Nielson; Jon Jacobs; Erin S Baker; Paul Piehowski; Vladislav Petyuk; Yuqian Gao; Tujin Shi; Richard D Smith; Douglas C Bauer; Steven R Cummings; Jodi Lapidus Journal: Aging Cell Date: 2020-10-20 Impact factor: 9.304