Attained parental age and children's survival at mid-life ages in a large population

Long-lived persons tend to share a survival advantage with their parents and siblings; however, there is limited information on benefit beyond the extremes of longevity. We evaluated a survival benefit associated with age of parents.

A population-based study of adults 43-86 years of age in a Midwestern town was performed (n = 4,926). Extensive exam and questionnaire information including current age or age at death of parents of study participants was obtained.

While adjusting for age and gender, those with at least one parent surviving to 100 years of age had the best survival (92% survive to age 70 and 54% to age 90). There appeared to be a survival benefit for each decade of maximal parental age. A trend persists when additional risk factors are included in the model.

There is a survival benefit to offspring of increasing parental age that is apparent as early as 80 years of parental age.