Exploring Sardinian Longevity and Its Association with Reproductive Behaviors and Infant Mortality

Graziella Caselli, Università di Roma "La Sapienza"
Rosa Maria Lipsi, Istat
Enrica Lapucci, Università di Roma "La Sapienza"
James W. Vaupel, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

This paper aims at investigating the interaction between fertility and longevity and, longevity and infant mortality. Research questions are: has fertility a protective effect on maternal survival at advanced ages? And, at the same time, is a mother’s longevity favorable to lower infant mortality in her offspring? The wealth of information gathered in the AKeA2 survey, concerning family genealogies of the Sardinian centenarians and control groups have been used to study various hypotheses about longevity by applying a Logistic Regression Model and a Random-Intercept Model. As regards the first interaction, long-lived women having had the last child at advanced ages (e.g. 45 years or more) shows a protective effect on mother’s survival. With respect to the relationship between longevity and infant mortality, the most interesting result concerns the significantly lower mortality in the first year of life among children of centenarian women.

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Presented in Session 92: The Oldest Old: Determinants of Very Long Lifespans