Live or die: what do you want at 100 years of age or older? This was the question that a team from CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research– tried to answer, based on 121 centenarian elderly people, 16% of whom were men and 40.5% were institutionalized.
The results of the study “Live or Die: What to Wish for at 100 Years and Older,” published in Frontiers in Psychology, indicate that family and belief in God (in “God’s will”) are some of the main motivations for centenarians who want to continue living.
“For Portuguese people, the meaning of life is very much related to family and religion/spirituality. The people who want to continue living are those who are more satisfied with their lives and not so much those who are in better condition in terms of physical health,” says Lia Araújo, the first author of this work.
On the other hand, lack of life meaning, feeling of worthlessness, disconnection, and loneliness are the most common reasons given by centenarian seniors who no longer want to live.
In this sample of Portuguese centenarians, 31.4% stated a desire to live longer, while 30.6% have no such desire. In 38% of the elderly, their position was not clear.
“Although people wish to live a long life, the percentage of people aged 100 or more who actually want to live is similar to the percentage of people who don’t,” notes the CINTESIS researcher and professor at the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV).
It is hoped that these results contribute to a better understanding of what people with exceptional longevity think, particularly about why they want to continue living at such an advanced age.
This study is a result of the PT100 Centenaries project, in the scope of CINTESIS, and it is authored by Laetitia Teixeira (CINTESIS/IPV), Rosa Marina Afonso (CINTESIS/University of Beira Interior) and Oscar Ribeiro (CINTESIS/University of Aveiro).