Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Centenarians in Mexico City.

BACKGROUND

There is little evidence about the demography and health status of adults aged 100 years and over in Latin America and there are no studies in Mexico.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the demographic characteristics and health status of centenarians residing in Mexico City.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study using a population base of 393 community-dwelling centenarians in Mexico City. A comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed, including demographic information and health status.

RESULTS

The mean age of centenarians was 101.82 ± 2.02 years, of whom 44 (9.1%) were semisupercentenarians (105-109 years old) and 5 (0.2%) were supercentenarians (≥110 years old). The female/male ratio was 3.2 : 1. Twelve (4.5%) reside in nursing homes. Women versus men have unfavorable conditions given their criteria: being without a partner, dependence in 1 or more basic activities, dependence in 1 or more instrumental activities, hypertension, cancer, and Parkinson's disease. Nevertheless, as compared to other populations, Mexican centenarians report having good self-perception of health (78.9%), polypharmacy (17.8%), low rate of pain (11.4%), diabetes (4.8%), and dyslipidemia (1.8%).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study in Latin America that describes the social and clinical characteristics of centenarians in Mexico City. This population has a high percentage of malnutrition and osteoarthrosis, a high self-perception of health, low frequency of diabetes, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and a high frequency of "escapers" (24%).