Keywords
Data Reliability
Census
Data Classification
How to Cite
Abstract
Centenarians are one of the fastest-growing age groups globally. However, collecting data from this population poses various challenges, particularly regarding the quality of census data. In 2023, Medeiros and Paes proposed a method to evaluate the quality of centenarian counting worldwide based on national censuses (2010/2011). The present study revisited this method, updating it for 87 countries with data from 2020 to 2023. The study calculated three indicators for each of these countries and then obtained a new range of variations for each of these indicators. Finally, the countries were classified according to this review. The study findings reveal heterogeneous patterns in the quality and composition of centenarian data across countries, represented by three categories: good, intermediate, and poor quality. The reviewed and updated method uses a few indicators that are generally available in every country’s population counting records.
References
Aladejare, S. (2023). Does External Debt Promote Human Longevity in Developing Countries? Evidence from West African Countries. Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 16, 213 - 237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-023-00365-1.
Barbi, E., Caselli, G. and Vallin, J. (2003). Trajectories of Extreme Survival in Heterogeneous Populations. Population, 58(1), 43-66. https://doi.org/10.3917/popu.301.0045.
Barbi, E., Lagona, F., Marsili, M., Vaupel, J. W., & Wachter, K. W. (2018). The plateau of human mortality: Demography of longevity pioneers. Science (New York, N.Y.), 360(6396), 1459–1461. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat3119
Bell, F.C., Miller, M.L.; Life Tables for the United States Social Security Area 1900-2100, Actuarial Study No. 120. 2005. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Tbl_7_1900.html
Gavrilov, L. A., Gavrilova, N. S. (2011). Mortality Measurement at Advanced Ages: A Study of the Social Security Administration Death Master File. North American Actuarial Journal, 15(3), 432–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/10920277.2011.10597629
Gavrilov, L.A., Gavrilova, N.S. (2019) Late-life mortality is underestimated because of data errors. PLoS Biol 17(2), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000148
IHME. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (2025). Global Burden of Disease 2023: Findings from the GBD 2023 Study. Seattle, WA: IHME.
Lozada‐Martínez, I., Marín, J., Castelblanco-Toro, S., Mazenett-Granados, E., Suárez, J., Sarmiento, M., & Anaya, J. (2024) Demographics and clinical characteristics of a new population of Centenarians in Colombia. The COOLCEN cohort. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Plus. 1 (1),1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aggp.2024.100006.
Mackenbach, J., Valverde, J., Bopp, M., Brønnum-Hansen, H., Deboosere, P., Kalediene, R., Kovács, K., Leinsalu, M., Martikainen, P., Menvielle, G., Regidor, E., & Nusselder, W. (2019). Determinants of inequalities in life expectancy: an international comparative study of eight risk factors.. The Lancet. Public health, 4(10), e529-e537. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(19)30147-1.
Marcus, S., Njoku, C., Ijieh, S., & Okon, I. (2023). Undernourishment on Longevity in West Africa: A Group Outcome. AKSU Journal of Administration and Corporate Governance. 3(3), 177-189. https://doi.org/10.61090/aksujacog.2023.027.
Medeiros, J.B.; Paes, N. A. (2022). Classification proposal to evaluate the quality of census data of centenaries. Latinoamericana De Población Journal, 16. doi:https://doi.org/10.31406/relap2022.v16.e202207
Medeiros, J.B., Paes, N.A. (2025). Updating the Proposal for Assessing the Quality of Census Count of Centenaries. Springer. 57(1), 29-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82275-9_3
Meyer, J. (2012). Centenarians: 2010, 2010 Census Special Reports. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2012/dec/c2010sr-03.html
Mikkelsen, L., Hooper, J., Adair, T., Badr, A., & Lopez, A. (2023). Comparative performance of national civil registration and vital statistics sys¬tems: a global assessment. Boletim da Organização Mundial da Saúde, 101, 758-767. https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.22.289033
Mikkelsen, L., Phillips, D., AbouZahr, C., Setel, P., Savigny, D., Lozano, R., & Lopez, A. (2015). A global assessment of civil registration and vital statistics systems: monitoring data quality and prog¬ress. The Lancet, 386(10001), 1395-1406. https://doi.org/10.1016/ s0140-6736(15)60171-4
Newman, S. J. (2018). Errors as a primary cause of late-life mortality de¬celeration and plateaus. PLoS Biology, 16(12), Article e2006776. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2006776
Newman, S. J. (2024). The global pattern of centenarians highlights deep problems in demography. medRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.06.24313170
Omokanmi, O., Ibrahim, R., Ajide, K., & Al-Faryan, M. (2022). Exploring the dynamic impacts of natural resources and environmental pollution on longevity in resource-dependent African countries: Does income level matter?. Resources Policy, 79, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102959.
Paes, N. A. (2018). Statistical demographics of the included events: With examples based on the Brazilian experience. CCTA Publisher.
Perls, T. T. (2017). Male centenarians: How and why are they different from their female counterparts? Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 65(9), 1904-1906. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14978
Phillips, D., AbouZahr, C., Lopez, A., Mikkelsen, L., Savigny, D., Lozano, R., Wilmoth, J., & Setel, P. (2015). Are well functioning civil registration and vital statistics systems associated with better health outcomes? The Lancet, 386(10001), 1386-1394. https://doi.org/10.1016/ s0140-6736(15)60172-6
Reis, C. S. Dos; Turra, C. (2016). Spatial distribution of centenarians in Brazil: an exploratory analysis of the quality of data from the 2000 and 2010 censuses. Espinhaço Journal, 5(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3958091
Schmertmann, C., Queiroz, B. L., Gonzaga, M. (2024). Data errors in mortality estimation: Formal demographic analysis of under-registration, under-enumeration, and age misreporting. Demographic Research, 51(9), 229–266. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2024.51.9
UNDESA-PD. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024, Online Edition.
UNPD - United Nations Development. Human Development Report, 2025. Retrieved from https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2025reporten.pdf.
UNSD - United Nations Statistics Division. (2025). UNdata: Demographic Statistics Database. Retrieved from https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a22.
Ward, J. H. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of American Statistical Association, 58, 236-244. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2282967
WHO. (2023). Healthy ageing: A priority for delivering universal health coverage. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/healthy-ageing--a-priority-for-delivering-universal-health-coverage
Zaccaria, D., Falciola, J., Masotti, B., Von Gunten, A., Herrmann, F., Jopp, D.S. y Cavalli, S. (2025) Data quality in centenarian research: The proxycentenarian relationship and item nonresponse in the SWISS100 study. PLoS ONE 20(1), e0311847. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311847
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Neir Antunes Paes, Rozane Pereira de Sousa, Vivian Conceição Alves Leite Pereira do Lago