Familial transmission of human longevity among the oldest-old in china

This paper investigates the relationship between longevity of parents and exceptional longevity (survival to age 80 or older) of offspring, using data from the first three waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We apply the Fixed-Attributes Dynamics method and logistic regression models to the data. Results of both methods show that the familial transmission of longevity exists at very old ages, and the transmission is same-sex linked between parents and offspring; that is, there is a strong father-son resemblance of longevity and a strong mother-daughter resemblance of longevity, but a non-significant or weak association of longevity between father and daughter or between mother and son. © 2010 The Author(s).

Duke Scholars

Author Yi Zeng Medicine, Geriatrics