A supercentenarian is a person who has lived past their 110th birthday. This is an exceptionally rare feat, with only an estimated 500-700 supercentenarians living globally. With an ageing population the number of supercentenarians is likely to increase. This population warrants further investigation since they, along with centenarians, are noted as the conquerors of longevity. However, no studies have investigated a larger dataset of such individuals. Age validation of identified supercentenarian age claims from various forms of media and registers using proposed criteria for age validation occured. Descriptive data analysis and statistics was performed concerning survival, sex distribution, ethnicity and season of birth and death. A total of over 3,000 deceased supercentenarians were identified and validated. The preliminary results of this investigation reveals that there exists a mortality plateau for supercentenarians, plateauing at an approximate 50 percent annual mortality. It can therefore be noted that the average supercentenarian only lives for about 1.5 years past their 110th birthday. Furthermore, the findings support the female advantage in longevity, with 90 percent of all supercentenarians being female. Also, it appears that seasonality influences both patterns of birth and death, with a majority of supercentenarians having been born or died in the months October-March. This study is the first to include a large dataset of age validated supercentenarians, meaning that the accuracy of longevity and mortality patterns is improved compared to previous research. The findings indicate that while the number of supercentenarians is increasing, the average supercentenarian lifespan does not.

Authors:
Jimmy Lindberg, Jönköping, Sweden

About the Presenter(s)
Jimmy Lindberg is a scientific advisor at LongeviQuest and has a research interest in exceptional longevity. She's currently researching supercentenarians and trends associated with their long lives.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-lindberg-78a2a978/

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