Centenarians worldwide are growing rapidly and thriving as they age. This growth reflects their desire to thrive beyond personal and societal obstacles, a hallmark sign of resilience. However, little research exists on centenarians’ perspectives about their lived experiences that reflect resilience. Therefore, the purpose of this secondary analysis was to capture the perspectives of Appalachian centenarians about (a) living through their childhood and early adulthood in an area known for poverty and isolation, and (b) exploring the resilient nature that emerged from their narratives. With a qualitative descriptive design, 21 community-dwelling Appalachian centenarians participated in face-to-face interviews. They resided in either their homes or assisted-living facilities. Transcripts were analysed with Neuendorf's method of content analysis. Within three themes, 11 sub-themes were identified: (a) working hard for the family, (b) loss of a loved one, (c) gender and race discrimination, (d) impact of isolation on health, (e) living a simple life, (f) using family/community support, (g) consuming and appreciating food from their farms, (h) spirituality, (i) generosity of spirit, (j) living a clean life, and (k) happy, good and loving life. Collectively, these themes and sub-themes reflected how the centenarians overcame and grew from challenges and adversities to become resilient. Consequently, these findings show that understanding resilience from centenarians’ perspectives can significantly contribute to the potential for longevity.

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of extended longevity as perceived by centenarians. Centenarians (people over 100 years of age) are the fastest growing group of the ageing population in developed countries. Ten centenarians aged between 100 and 106 years, living in the Lower North Island of New Zealand, participated in the study. The biographical narrative interpretive method of inquiry guided data collection through face-to-face interviews, and thematic analysis was subsequently undertaken. Four themes were identified: (a) ‘becoming a centenarian: ‘Just another day’; (b) ‘growing up in a privileged environment’ that revealed four sub-themes: ‘having freedom and choice’, ‘being loved and nurtured’, ‘living healthy lifestyles’ and having ‘good education prospects’; (c) ‘unique opportunities in adult life’; and (d) ‘positive ageing and celebration of longevity’. The centenarians spoke nonchalantly about their experience of turning 100 and positive personalities were prominent features of the participants, who all expressed a sense of acceptance and satisfaction with life and contentment with living in the present, a feature throughout their lives that was ongoing and at an intergenerational level. This study has provided further insights into the existing literature on longevity and through the narratives of the centenarians has demonstrated the value of Erikson's psycho-social stages of development and Tornstam's theory of gerotranscendence when considering positive ageing.

Background. The elderly population size is growing worldwide due increased life expectancy and decreased mortality in the elderly. This has lead to an increase in the number of centenarians, and their numbers are predicted to increase further. Little is known about suicide rates in centenarians.

Methods. Data on the number of suicides (ICD-10 codes, X60–84) in centenarians of both gender for as many years as possible from 2000 were ascertained from three sources: colleagues, national statisics office websites and e-mail contact with the national statistics offices of as many countries as possible. The number of centernarians for the corresponding years was estimated for each country using data provided by the United Nations website.

Results. Data were available from 17 countries. The suicide rate was 57 (95% confidence interval 45–69) per 100, 000 person years in men and 6.8 (95% confidence interval 5.1–8.5) per 100,000 person years in women.

Conclusions. Suicide rates were sufficiently large amongst centenarians for there to constitute a public health concern given the anticipated rise in the centenarian population and the paucity of data on risk and protective factors for suicide in this age group.

Background: The study of exceptionally long-living individuals can inform us about the determinants of successful aging. There are few population-based studies of centenarians and near-centenarians internationally, but none in Australia.

Methods: Individuals 95 years and older were recruited from seven electoral districts in Sydney using the electoral roll, Medicare lists, and multiple other strategies to obtain a representative sample. Physical and mental health and cognitive status were assessed using standard instruments in multiple sessions, with assessments individually adapted. An informant was interviewed, and participants were invited to donate a blood sample, undergo an MRI scan, and enrol into the brain donation program.

Results: Preliminary data on the first 200 participants are reported. Mean age was 97.4 years (range 95–106), with 29.5% being men, and 58.5% living in a private dwelling. Rates of heart disease and diabetes were lower than in octogenarians, but hearing and visual deficits were common. The mean mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score was 21.1, with men performing better. Rates of psychological distress were low and satisfaction with life high (mean 5.91 out of a maximum of 7); 54% scored <24 on MMSE; 39.5% were impaired on both MMSE and a functional measure; and 20% had previous diagnosis of dementia.

Conclusions: This is a preliminary report describing the methodology of the study. It provides further evidence that dementia is not inevitable at this age and independent living is common. The study provides an excellent resource to determine the genetic and environmental contributions to long and successful cognitive aging.

We examine the data and techniques underlying the estimation of mortality rates at older ages in Ireland since 1950. Previous attempts to elucidate the level and trends in mortality at advanced ages in Ireland have been frustrated by significant non-random biases arising from age exaggeration and age heaping, together with a lack of correspondence, growing with increasing age, between the exposed-to-risk estimated from census data and the death count from registration data. Applying the method of extinct generations, we re-estimate crude mortality rates and report the somewhat unexpected result that mortality rates were lower, and did not increase as steeply with age, than those recorded in the official Irish Life Tables. The reestimated crude rates show, for both sexes, a very slight decrease in mortality rates between the 1950s and 1980s up to age 90 years, with no improvement discernible at older ages. Improvements at advanced ages in Ireland have lagged behind those in England and Wales and other developed countries over the same period. The companion paper, Mortality in Ireland at Advanced Ages, 1950–2006: Part 2: Graduated Rates, Whelan (2009), graduates the crude rates and extends the method of extinct generations to estimate mortality rates of more recent, still surviving, generations.

This study contributes to our understanding of the ageing process by investigating whether particular psychological dispositions among older people are associated with healthy ageing. The study's objective is to further our knowledge about what constitutes ‘health’ for the ‘oldest-old’ (people aged 80 or more years) in China. It is recognised that apart from the absence of disease, good health is a subjective experience, and it is posited that self-reported health is associated with psychological disposition, or in other words, that an individual's personal attitudes, motivations, and beliefs condition their perception of health and illness. Using data from China's Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (1998 and 2000 waves), we examine whether psychological disposition in 1998 had an independent effect on self-reported health in 2000. The study is based on a stratified random sample of 4,366 people aged 80 or more years. After introducing controls for health status and socio-demographic variables, the multivariate, longitudinal results demonstrate that a robust psychological disposition was indeed associated with good short-term, self-reported health. The findings also illustrate that the effect differed by age, for the relationship was significant for octogenarians and nonagenarians but insignificant for centenarians. Data limitations prevented an empirical investigation of the processes that underlie the relationship between psychological disposition and self-reported health.

This paper provides a brief introduction to demography and population science and the newly emerged subfield of the demography of ageing. Links with gerontology are explored. Recent work on mortality at very high ages and on the black-white mortality ‘cross-over’ reported from the United States is then reviewed. These topics are important substantively and theoretically and also serve to illustrate demographic approaches to data and data analysis. Analytic approaches to the topics reviewed have had to be imaginative as there are major problems with data on very old people. Recent work indicates that the mortality of very old people, including centenarians, has fallen considerably, at least in those countries where good data exist. The mortality ‘cross-over’, however, appears to be artefactual, at least at ages under 95 years.