Description: This is one of eight essays from the collection: 2020 Living to 100 Essays.

Description: Because data quality is critical in the measurement of an event as rare as the death of a supercentenarian, special care must be used. We will discuss practical methods of validation used by researchers in the field, alternate methodologies and data cleaning procedures to ensure validity of mortality data as extreme old age. We will also explore some of the consequences of inadequate data preparations on the curve of mortality at the end of life.

Description: From 2005 Living to 100 and Beyond Monograph, M-LI05-1.

Description: Discussion among experts. From 2005 Living to 100 and Beyond Monograph, M-LI05-1.

Description: Abstract: Earlier studies found that parental characteristics as well as early-life conditions and mid-life environment play a significant role in survival to advanced ages. However, little is known about simultaneous effects of all these three factors on longevity. This ongoing study attempts to fill this gap by comparing American centenarians born in 1890-1891 with their short-lived peers born in 1890 and died at age 65 years. The records were taken from computerized family histories, which were then linked to 1900 and 1930 U.S. censuses. The study found that parental longevity and some mid-life characteristics proved to be significant predictors of longevity while the role of childhood conditions was less important. More centenarians were born in the second half of the year compared to controls suggesting early origins of longevity. The results of this study suggest that familial background, early-life conditions and mid-life characteristics play an important role in longevity.

Description: We suggest a new method of latent variable analysis and apply it for describing mortality changes in developed countries over the period of 1900--2014.

Description: This project took advantage of new opportunities provided by the ongoing revolution in information technology, computer science and Internet expansion for smaller studies of exceptional human longevity and possible predictors of such longevity.

Description: Presented at Living to 100 symposium, January 2011. Using data from Social Security's Death Master File, this study shows that mortality deceleration in humans observed at advanced ages may be an artifact caused by age exaggeration, data heterogeneity or use of improper estimates of hazard rate. The phenomenon of mortality deceleration at older ages vanishes for datasets of higher data quality.

Description: This article analyzes mortality trajectories of supercentenarians (persons living 110+ years) and tests hypothesis about flat mortality at these extreme ages.

Description: Presented at Living to 100 and Beyond symposium 2002. Discussion of two papers, 'Approaches and Experiences in Projecting Mortality Patterns for the Oldest Old' by Buettner and 'Using Dynamic Reliability in Estimating Mortality at Advanced Ages' by Lin. The first paper discusses the UN methodology for projecting mortality above age 80 and presents another approach for addressing the problem of table closing. The second paper suggests a new statistical model for fitting and estimation of mortality rates at advanced ages.