Rate of Ageing of the Chinese Oldest-Old and Its Determinants

Kuangshi Huang, China Population and Development Research Center
Zhuo Chen, China Population and Development Research Center
Xuying Zhang, China Population and Development Research Center
Jiehua Lu, Beijing University
Kirk A. Scott, Lund University

This study uses a longitudinal data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey and frailty index to examine the rate of individual ageing of Chinese elderly and its determinants. The key finding is that the mean rates of ageing for the elderly at different ages are nearly the same, almost between 2 percent and 2.5 percent each year. The regression results showed that most of variables about the early and middle life are statistically insignificantly, including the birth place, the current residence, the marriage times, the availability of medical service both at around age 60 and in childhood, and the experience of hunger in childhood. But some variables are significant, including doing regular exercise, the adequacy of medical service if seriously ill and sufficiency of financial support for daily costs. Therefore it is possible for humans to slow the rate of ageing, albeit with too slight influence of such efforts.