Epidemiological and socioeconomic aspects of Italian centenarians

This paper reports the preliminary data from the Italian Multicentric Study on Centenarians involving 21 University Centers. The study focuses on the epidemiological and socioeconomic findings; the other data will be presented shortly. The investigation examined 382 randomly selected centenarians from a total 1162 centenarian subjects recorded by a census carried out on 31 December, 1993. A computerized clinical case sheet was used and collected all the socioeconomical data. A population of 16 541 802 inhabitants (29.02% of the Italian population) was assessed and 1162 centenarians were recorded. The projection of this datum on a national scale resulted in a total of 4004 centenarians (70.25 centenarians/1 000 000 inhabitants). Analysis of the centenariansʹ socioeconomic status revealed that longevity was preponderant in females (79% females vs. 21% males), and that the centenarians had low levels of education. Fifty-four percent lived in towns, in healthy living conditions and had a family history of longevity. Mean ages of survival of the centenariansʹ parents and grandparents were 73 and 78 years, respectively. Our centenarians were generally cared for by relatives and friends and received a social pension. The majority (78%) of the centenarians studied lived with their children and relatives, while the remainder (22%) lived in old peoplesʹ homes. During their working lives our centenarians had many occupations, and 21% had at least one hobby at the time of the census. Our data suggest that human longevity is mainly linked to each individualʹs genetic pattern, but can be influenced by socioeconomic factors.