application): The general goal of this project is to shed new light on both the non-genetic and genetic determinants of exceptional longevity and oldest-old mortality. In 1998, with NIA research support, extensive questionnaire data as well as DNA was gathered on 3000 centenarians and more than 7000 octogenarians and nonagenarians in China. The sample includes about 1500 groups of two or more siblings. The survey was designed such that all centenarians in half of the .administrative districts of the predominantly Hart provinces of China were interviewed. Here two follow-up surveys are proposed, one in the year 2000 and one in 2002. Survivors from the 1998 survey will be re-interviewed in 2000 and survivors from the 2000 survey will be re-interviewed in 2002. Data on date and cause of death will be gathered for those who die between the waves of interviews. All new centenarians in the administrative districts surveyed will be interviewed in 2000 and 2002. In addkion, people who reach ages 80 and 81 in the year 2000 and in the year 2002 will be added to the sample. Finally, those octogenarians and nonagenarians who die between the survey waves will be replaced by new people of rnatched age and sex. Over the three waves of the survey, questionnaire data and DNA will be gathered on nearly 7000 centenarians and more than 11,000 octogenarians and nonagenanans, including more than 3000 groups of 2 or more siblings. Furthermore, data on date and cause of death will be collected on about 10,000 oldest-old individuals in the survey. The 1998 survey alone provides valuable data. However, cross-sectional data are of limited value because no information is available about mortality. This restriction is particularly severe for a study of the determinants of survival and longevity. The two proposed follow-up studies will provide longitudinal data on survival as well as data on changes in status, including health status. The study as a whole will be by far the largest study of the health and other characteristics of the oldest-old and of the survival of the oldest-old.
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