Title: GEOGRAPHY AND LONGEVITY. A DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY ON SARDINIAN CENTENARIANS
Author: Luisa Salaris
Population Research Centre Master Thesis Series 05-3, December 2005
ABSTRACT
In the last decades, increases in life expectancy implied in developed World the emergence of a small population’s group, individuals that reach and overpass the age of one hundred years, so called centenarians. The present Master thesis aims to give a demographic point of view in the study of these individuals and particularly it considers the geographical location and some demographic characteristics of Sardinian centenarians (Italy). They represent exceptional cases of successful ageing and it appears interesting to assess whether or not it exists a relationship between longevity and geography.
Differences and similarities across time and space are analysed, considering progressively smaller geographical units of study till the municipality level. In fact, the present research process have been developed reserving to geography a key role in order to describe and interpreted centenarians’ distribution and eventual effecting factors on longevity. This approach enables for comparison and moreover it satisfies the necessity of considering the role of the physical environment characteristics individuals live in.
Key words:
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longevity
·
centenarians
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geography
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Sardinia
