Living environments may be a detrimental factor in determining if one lives to reach centenarian age, according to a new study by Washington State University.
In the new research, released in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers determined that highly walkable and mixed-age communities correlated with the capability of reaching the age of 100.
Their findings were achieved by examining state-wide data of close to 145,000 deceased Washington residents between 2011 to 2015. All of the participants were aged 75 or older and several factors such as gender, race, marital status, and educational attainment were gathered.
“A survival analysis of reaching centenarian age for older adults aged 75 years and above was performed using Washington State mortality data from 2011−2015,” the findings read.
“Models were adjusted for sex, race, education, marital status, and neighborhood level social and environmental variables at the block group level. Geographic clusters of increased chance of becoming a centenarian were also mapped.”
By the conclusion of their study, the results showed that walkable neighborhoods, higher socioeconomic status, lower educational attainment, and increased working-age people were associated with reaching centenarian age in Washington State.
“In this study, we explore findings that are consistent with previous research, as well as some that have not been previously explained,” the study’s co-authors stated. “More research is needed to expand upon these findings in this rapidly growing field.”
