Mortality of the Oldest-Old The Oldest-Old: Are They Still 80 Years Old?

Abstract

"An 80-year-old is as healthy today as a 70-year-old yesterday," such phrases are not uncommon, and we can actually observe that the probability of death of an 80-year-old in Japan in 2009 corresponds to the mortality of a 70-year-old in 1959. This significant change in the mortality level of the oldest-old population, i.e., people 80 years and older, is the focus of this article. Among others, we concentrate on the age patterns, time changes, and population variation in mortality among the oldest age group of the population.