A new study suggests that women tend to outlive men, as the number of centenarians in Ontario increased by more than 70 percent over the last 15 years with women making up more than 85 percent of people 100 or older.
The findings, by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital, are among the first to examine centenarians in a large geographic population and the healthcare services they receive.
"Our study highlights that older people are living longer, and women make up a significant proportion of centenarians. The predominance of women among those of advanced age challenges us to consider tailoring health and social care to meet their particular needs," Dr. Paula Rochon, lead author of the study and scientist at Women's College Research Institute and ICES, said.
The population-based study of centenarians used an estimated 1.8 million individuals 65 years of age and older.
This study that documents changes to the size of the centenarian population over the past 15 years found that in Ontario, the number of centenarians increased from 1069 in 1995 to 1842 in 2010, a 72.3 percent increase during this period.
During the same time period, the 85-99 year age group increased from 119,955 to 227,703, an 89.8 per cent increase. Of the 1842 centenarians, 6.7 per cent were 105 years or older.
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Women represented 85.3 per cent of all centenarians and 89.4 per cent of those 105 years or older.
The research is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.