[The dynamics of aging of an unselected population of limited representation].

Aging rates of a sample which should represent the total population living in a district of Madrid were studied using the vectorial calculation as a mathematical model. The number of individuals who finally participated was 867, homogeneously distributed by sex and age decades in the age range of 20-100 years. A total of 15 variables was applied, but they were deduced from health-related data obtained from a special elaborated questionnaire. The resulting aging factor--a dimension to evaluate the aging acceleration--agrees with the corresponding results of biological aging studies previously published. Moreover, we contend that the obtained information from the simply sent questionnaire is accurate and of biological value, and would enable studies on the aging rates of populations.