ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2015
Becoming centenarians: disease and functioning trajectories of older US Adults as they survive to 100.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of diet and medication use among centenarians and near-centenarians worldwide.GeroScience · 2024Pooled it
- Mortality predictors in community-dwelling centenarians through comprehensive geriatric assessment.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Dietary supplement use in longevity: evidence from 2,877 centenarians.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Centenarians and near-centenarians in India: empirical insights on health and well-being characteristics.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Preserved cognitive-functional phenotype in centenarians and its association with modifiable risk factors for dementia: Results from the Colombian centenarians project.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Swedish centenarian health - a nationwide, observational study on care utilization, drug use, morbidity, and mortality among Swedish centenarians in 1990 to 2022.BMC geriatrics · 2025Observational
- Machine learning prediction of survival in centenarians after age 100: a retrospective, population-based cohort study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Disease accumulation and distribution across the lifespan in Swedish centenarians and non-centenarians: a nationwide life course comparison of longevity and health resilience.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Inguinal Hernia Repair in a Centenarian.Cureus · 2025Article
- Do people reach 100 by surviving, delaying, or avoiding diseases? A life course comparison of centenarians and non-centenarians from the same birth cohorts.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Factors involved in human healthy aging: insights from longevity individuals.Frontiers of medicine · 2025Review
- Centenarians-the way to healthy vascular ageing and longevity: a review from VascAgeNet.GeroScience · 2025Review
- Living longer and lifestyle: A report on the oldest of the old in the Adventist Health Study-2.JAR life · 2025Article
- Article
- Analyzing somatic mutations by single-cell whole-genome sequencing.Nature protocols · 2024Review
- Comparing The Mediterranean and The Japanese Dietary Pattern in Relation to Longevity - A Narrative Review.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2024Review
- Resilience, Accelerated Aging and Persistently Poor Health: Diverse Trajectories of Health in Malawi.Population and development review · 2023Article
- Discovering Biological Mechanisms of Exceptional Human Health Span and Life Span.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2023Review
- Increasing number of long-lived ancestors marks a decade of healthspan extension and healthier metabolomics profiles.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Comparison of functional disabilities, place of death and end-of-life medical expenditures among centenarians and non-centenarians in China: a series of cross-sectional studies.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLittle is known about the health and functioning of individuals who become centenarians in the years prior to reaching age 100. We examined long-term trajectories of disease, disability, and cognitive function in a sample of U.S. centenarians to determine how their aging experience differs from their nonsurviving cohort counterparts, and if there is heterogeneity in the aging experience of centenarians.
methodsData are from the 1993-2010 waves of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study. Among those who had the potential to become centenarians, we identified 1,045 respondents who died before reaching age 100 and 96 who survived to their 100th birthday. Respondents, or their proxies, reported on diagnosis of six major diseases (hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes), limitations in activities of daily living, and cognitive function.
resultsAs they age to 100, centenarians are generally healthier than nonsurviving members of their cohort, and a number of individuals who become centenarians reach 100 with no self-reported diseases or functional impairments. About 23% of centenarians reached age 100 with no major chronic disease and approximately the same number had no disability (18%). Over half (55%) reached 100 without cognitive impairment. Disease and functioning trajectories of centenarians differ by sex, education, and marital status.
conclusionsWhile some centenarians have poor health and functioning upon reaching age 100, others are able to achieve exceptional longevity in relatively good health and without loss of functioning. This study underscores the importance of examining variation in the growing centenarian population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.