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%).