Supercentenarians: slower ageing individuals or senile elderly?

Although the increase in the number of centenarians is well documented toda y, at least in some countries, this is still not the case for people having reached the age of 110 years or more: the supercentenarians. The supercent enarians emerged in the mid-1960s. Their numbers have regularly increased s ince the mid-1970s. The current prevalence of known supercentenarians in co untries involved in the database is approximately five to six times more th an in the mid-1970s. In roughly 20 years the maximum age observed has incre ased by about 10 years from 112 to 122 years. The annual probability of dea th at age 110 is as low as 0.52 with the validated data (n = 106) or with t he exhaustive and validated data (n = 73). The probabilities of death stagn ate between 110 and 115 years, and all the computed probabilities fall belo w the ceiling of 0.6. Our results are compatible with the last extrapolatio ns of mortality trajectories using a logistic or a quadratic model. (C) 200 1 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.