A social and clinical evaluation of centenarians

A social and clinical evaluation was performed on thirty Kentucky centenarians. The majority of the subjects were women (19/30), white (27/30), either widows or widowers (26/30), and lived in long term care facilities (15/30). Only one of thirty had ever smoked cigarettes and there was an absence of excessive alcohol use. Medication use varied from 0 to 9 medications. Digitalis, diuretics, and anti-inflammatory medications were common (12; 16; 15 respectively) while major and minor tranquilizers were less frequently used (7 and 4). Hypertension was present in 48%. Although rarely functionally significant, clinically evident cardiac disease was present in 38%. Ninety-three percent lacked vibratory sensation at the ankles while ankle jerks were absent in 82%. Functionally significant diminished vision and hearing were frequent (40% and 60% respectively). Functional assessment demonstrated moderate to nearly complete independence in 57%, while the remaining 43% were significantly to nearly totally dependent on others. The primary conclusion is that for all they have in common, centenarians remain unique individuals with a tremendous variability among themselves.