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Title: Season of Birth and Exceptional Longevity: Comparative Study of American Centenarians, Their Siblings, and Spouses

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: This study explores the effects of month of birth (a proxy for early-life environmental influences) on the chances of survival to age 100. Months of birth for 1,574 validated centenarians born in the United States in 18801895 were compared to the same information obtained for centenarians 10,885 shorter-lived siblings and 1,083 spouses. Comparison was conducted using a within-family analysis by the method of conditional logistic regression, which allows researchers to control for unobserved shared childhood or adulthood environment and common genetic background. It was found that months of birth have significant long-lastingeffect on survival to age 100: siblings born in SeptemberNovember have higher odds to become centenarians comparedto siblings born in March. A similar month-of-birth pattern was found for centenarian spouses. These results support the idea of early-life programming of human aging and longevity.

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Authors: Gavrilova, Natalia S.; Gavrilov, Leonid A.

Periodical (Full): Journal of Aging Research

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Aging and Retirement, Other

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