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. 2018 Feb 8;8(2):e019250.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019250.

Cohort profile: 'Centenari a Trieste' (CaT), a study of the health status of centenarians in a small defined area of Italy

Mauro Tettamanti  1 , Gabriella Marcon  2   3
Affiliations

Cohort profile: 'Centenari a Trieste' (CaT), a study of the health status of centenarians in a small defined area of Italy

Mauro Tettamanti et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Purpose: Centenarians, a segment of the population which some 50 years ago comprised only a few individuals, now count thousands in many countries, and demographic projections forecast that this growth will continue. The study of this new population will give us new information on extreme longevity and help prepare for their health and social needs. The aim of the Centenari a Trieste study is to describe the health and health service use by centenarians, with specific focus on cognitive status.

Participants: This is a population-based study of centenarians living in the province of Trieste (Italy), a small area with a high prevalence of centenarians and a close network of health and social services, which makes it possible to conduct a study. Consenting individuals were visited by a clinician, tested by neuropsychologists and also gave a sample of their blood. Administrative data were retrieved as well.

Findings to date: Of the 163 centenarians, 70 could be contacted and participated in the study. The main reasons for non-participation were impossibility to contact the subject (70) and death (20). Centenarians were mostly women (90%), tended to live in a nursing home (60%) and were generally severely functionally impaired (Barthel Index <50: 61%). Data from the administrative database showed that about one out of five needed hospitalisation in the preceding year and more than three out of four had at least one drug prescription.

Future plans: In 2017, we started a new wave of the study enrolling people who had just become centenarian and reassessing subjects already seen; we hope to extend this recruitment in the next years. Subjects are now examined also by cardiologists and dental specialists. We are collecting further different biological specimens to investigate new hypotheses on the cognitive function of the centenarians.

Keywords: activities of daily living; centenarians; dementia; health service use; longevity; oldest old; protective factors; risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Health service use by participating and non-participating centenarians. (A) Service use prevalence (%). (B) Number of prescribed drugs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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