To examine the factors affecting health and wellbeing of centenarians living in Ireland

Abstract

According to the United Nations the global number of centenarians is set to continue to climb, expecting to reach more than 25 million people in 2100 [1]. As centenarians live at the furthest extremity of age, they have long been considered as representative of healthy aging [2][3]. The unprecedented growth of centenarian population cohorts and the heterogeneity in their phenotypes has led to the compromise that generally they can be considered as ambassadors for healthy aging [4][5][6]. The ideology of centenarians as a ‘model for positive aging’ is driven by the aforementioned need in modern society to distinguish the key factors contributing to advanced longevity.