Usually women live longer than men and female centenarians largely outnumber male centenarians. The findings of previous studies identifying a population with a femininity ratio close to 1.0 among centenarians in the mountainous region of Sardinia was the starting point of an in-depth investigation in order to compare mortality trajectories between men and women in that population. The exceptional survival of men compared to women emerges from the comparison with similar Italian data. Age exaggeration for men has been strictly excluded as a result of the age validation procedure. The discussion suggests that besides biological/genetic factors, the behavioral factors including life style, demographic behavior, family support, and community characteristics may play an important role. No single explanation is likely to account for such an exceptional situation and a fully integrated multidisciplinary approach is urgently needed.

This study investigated the relationship between individual height and survival at older ages among conscripts born between 1866 and 1915 in an inland village of Sardinia, Italy. Individual age at death was related to military height measurement at age 20. Differential longevity of conscripts at older ages was investigated through the comparison of age-specific mortality rates and life expectancy estimates. Results indicated that short conscripts (<161.1 cm) generally had higher survival rates than their tall peers (≥ 161.1 cm). At 70 years of age, tall peers were expected to live two years less than short conscripts. Biological mechanisms were examined in relation to the greater longevity of shorter people.

This study investigates the role of familial transmission on individual survival in an inland community of Sardinia that stands for the exceptional longevity of its inhabitants. The analysis considers the complete survival trajectories of individuals born in the village of Villagrande Strisaili from unions in the period from 1850 to 1910 and aims to estimate the possible effect on the relationships parent-offspring and between siblings. Our results show that the frail familial component of the population, rather than the robust one, proves to be a good predictor of individual survival. No association between father survival and that of children was found. Having instead a long-living mother increases lifespan, especially for daughters. But the strongest relationship is that observed between siblings. The survival of siblings is positively associated with individual survival and this relationship is particularly strong for males. This finding points for both genetic and environment influence, and particularly of early-life conditions, on longevity.

The majority of studies on longevity in Sardinia point to an exceptional level of longevity, particularly for males, in this region of Italy. This study used individual data, considering selected groups of individuals such as centenarians, or focusing on cohorts of newborns in a large time period, that have previously been treated as a single group. An analysis on decennial birth cohorts from 1872 to 1911 in a selected village located in the Blue Zone area of longevity in Sardinia was used to gain insight into sex differentials in mortality in this area of high longevity and to separate differences between cohorts' experiences, considering the possible role of significant events in determining differential mortality among them. The results show that there is not a secular trend in survival in the birth cohorts under study, but rather that several points of mortality convergence and crossover occur, which make the estimates derived from conventional sensitivity tests of survival curves unreliable. Differences among birth cohorts' experiences are more marked among the male population and at early adult ages. External events are shown to play a relevant role in mortality variations, despite not having an impact on the ageing process. The results highlight that, although there are not statistically significant differences between the two sexes, the male population is exposed to a higher risk of death and proves to be more vulnerable to external changes. This suggests that extreme contextual conditions, both favourable and unfavourable, may significantly affect the mortality trajectories of a population.

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