Survival differences among the oldest old in Sardinia: who, what, where, and why?

A study of centenarians in Sardinia detected the existence of an area where the number of centenarians is higher than elsewhere, in particularly for men. There is a widespread opinion that the existence of a greater or a lesser number of centenarians largely depends on mortality features between 80 and 100 years. This study aims to cast light on our knowledge of elderly mortality differentials, total and by cause of death, in Sardinia, and attempts to verify this hypothesis. To do so, an analysis is conducted of age and sex mortality trends over time at province and municipality level. Results fully confirm the underlying hypothesis.