Pneumonia and Old Age are Common Causes of Death in Centenarians: Study

People who live for more than 100 years are more likely to die from pneumonia and age induced weaknesses, according to a study.

The number of centenarians or people living beyond the age of 100 has increased around world adding stress on further improving health facilities and care system. A 2011 survey found more than 300,000 centenaries living around the globe and the number will reach around three million by 2050.  Researchers from the Kings College London, compared death records of over 35,000 English centenarians from  2001 and 2010 data with those who died in their 80's and 90's to identify causes of death in seniors over 100 years. The study noted variables like lack of socio-economic facilities to observe changes in the life expectancy of the older population.

Almost 87 percent of the centenarian subjects in this study were women aged 101 on average. In the entire period of 10 years, the annual death rates increased from 2,800 to 4,400 deaths. Their analysis revealed 60 percent of the centenarians died in nursing homes, one-fourth died in hospitals and the rest died at their homes or in a hospice.

The study found old age and pneumonia as the most common risk factors accounting for 28 and 18 percent of the death, respectively. Health conditions like heart diseases, respiratory illnesses and cancer were responsible for nine, six and four percent of the deaths, respectively.

Majority of pneumonia deaths occurred in hospitals while old age deaths were common among seniors in home care services. Over 70 percent of the death certificates mentioned 'old age as an underlying cause of death compared to mere one percent in people in their 80's.  

"Centenarians have outlived death from chronic illness, but they are a group living with increasing frailty and vulnerability to pneumonia and other poor health outcomes. We need to plan for health care services that meet the 'hidden needs' of this group, who may decline rapidly if they succumb to an infection or pneumonia," said Catherine Evans, study author and  clinical lecturer in palliative care at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King's College London, in a news release.

The death rates in hospital settings are higher in England compared to other European countries. The authors urge improvements in geriatric care to enable the older citizens to spend their last moments without discomfort and sufferings.

More information is available online in the journal PLoS ONE.