FAMILIAL AND OTHER RELATIONSHIPS AND CARE OF CENTENARIANS IN HUNGARY

In the year 1987,218 centenarians lived in Hungary. First the main dem ographic data were reported by the surveyors of the Central Statistics Office. The basis of the experience was gained on a limited populatio n (123 subjects). The physicians' team was organized by the Gerontolog y Center of the Semmelweis University of Medicine. They carried out th e detailed medical and environmental check-up. The medical and environ mental experiences of the gerontologists were published (1). In our pr esent paper we would like to show the different familial and other rel ationships of the oldest people. The 123 centenarians were scattered o ver the whole country, altogether in 67 larger or smaller settlements. More of them lived with a daughter (42%), with a son (14%), with a gr andchild (7%), with other relatives (5%) and 3 persons lived together with their wives.We found that the subjects who lived with relatives h ad a better chance to live an active and meaningful life. The co-exist ence of several generations, the multilateral contacts of centenarians have a beneficial effect on the quality of life.