[More people live to be very old and with a better functioning].

Abstract

Death rates for 80+-year-olds are now half of what they were after WWII. The chance of living past 90 years has gone up by roughly 30% per decade for people born in Denmark in 1895, 1905, and 1915 - and the later cohorts are functioning better physically and cognitively. Centenarians are on average functioning physically and cognitively as well as 92-93-year-olds due to selective mortality. A steep increase in the frequency of hospitalization and surgical procedure among 85-100-year-olds is occurring, but there is a lack of knowledge about treatment effects and side effects among the oldest-old.