Are centenarians successful agers? Evidence from China

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Longevity Studies
• Sociology of Aging

Background:

• The degree to which centenarians achieve successful aging (SA) remains largely undetermined.
• This study investigates successful aging and its subtypes within a substantial Chinese population of centenarians.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the prevalence of successful aging among Chinese centenarians.
• To identify and characterize distinct subtypes of successful aging within this population.
• To explore the demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors associated with these subtypes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a large national sample of 18,311 Chinese centenarians.
• Employed Latent Class Analysis to classify centenarians based on five dimensions of successful aging.
• Conducted multinomial regression analysis to identify correlates of identified SA types.

Main Results:

• 5.7% of centenarians met all five criteria for successful aging; 1.3% met none.
• Six distinct subtypes of successful aging were identified among the remaining centenarians.
• Timely access to medical care was associated with a threefold increase in the likelihood of being a successful ager.

Conclusions:

• Centenarians exhibit significant heterogeneity in achieving successful aging criteria.
• Social factors, particularly access to medical care, are strongly linked to aging performance in centenarians.
• Distinct successful aging subtypes may offer insights into the biological and environmental mechanisms underlying exceptional longevity.