Healthy Lifestyle and the Likelihood of Becoming a Centenarian

Abstract

Importance: Previous studies have reported that lifestyle factors were associated with life expectancy and/or mortality, but most of them studied the middle-aged or older age groups (aged ≥60 years), and few focused on people aged 80 years or older.

Objectives: To examine healthy lifestyle and the likelihood of becoming centenarians among people aged 80 years or older in China.

Design, settings, and participants: Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, a nationally representative and one of the largest prospective cohorts targeting people aged 80 years or older established in 1998, a community-based, prospective nested case-control study was performed. Data were analyzed from December 1, 2022, to April 15, 2024.

Exposures: A healthy lifestyle score for 100 (HLS-100, ranging from 0 to 6), including smoking, exercise, and dietary diversity, was constructed, with higher scores indicating potentially better health outcomes.

Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome was survivorship to becoming a centenarian by 2018 (the end of follow-up). Information on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and other covariates was collected.

Results: The sample comprised 5222 individuals (61.7% women, mean [SD] age, 94.3 [3.3] years), including 1454 identified centenarians and 3768 controls (died before becoming centenarians) matched by age, sex, and year of entry. During a median follow-up of 5 (IQR, 3-7) years, 373 of 1486 individuals among the lowest HLS-100 (0-2) group and 276 of 851 individuals among the highest HLS-100 (5-6) group became centenarians. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) comparing the highest vs the lowest HLS-100 groups was 1.61 (95% CI, 1.32-1.96; P < .001 for trend). An association was noted when we further treated centenarians with relatively healthy status as the outcome, as evaluated by self-reported chronic conditions, physical and cognitive function, and mental wellness (AOR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.05-2.26). Similar results were observed in other sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions and relevance: In this case-control study of Chinese older adults, adhering to a healthy lifestyle appears to be important even at late ages, suggesting that constructing strategic plans to improve lifestyle behaviors among all older adults may play a key role in promoting healthy aging and longevity.

Figure.. Association Between Healthy Lifestyle Score (HLS) and Becoming a Centenarian

Model 1: Crude model. Model 2 for HLS: adjusted for residence (urban dwellers, rural dwellers, and missing), duration of education (0, 1-9, >9 years, and missing), marital status (married, not married, and missing), hypertension (yes, no, and missing), diabetes (yes, no, and missing), cardiovascular disease (yes, no, and missing), cancer (yes, no, and missing). Model 2 for HLS-100: additionally adjusted for alcohol use status (never, former, and current), and body mass index (<18.5, 18.5-23.9, and ≥24.0 [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared]). NA indicates not applicable. ^aTraditional HLS, composed of smoking status, alcohol use status, exercise status, dietary diversity score, and body mass index. ^bHLS for living to 100 years, composed of smoking status, exercise status, and dietary diversity score.