The Healthy Longevity Survey and the Active Life Expectancy of the Oldest Old in China

China offers an unparalleled opportunity for studies on the 80+ population of a developing country because its population is so large and the age reporting of Han Chinese and most other ethnic minority groups appears to be generally reliable. …The general design of the project is to conduct a national longitudinal survey with a sample size of more than 9000 oldest old in three waves: 1998 2000 and 2002. The survey includes both individual and community data. In addition some case studies on families and areas that exhibit exceptional longevity will be conducted after the year 2000. This paper presents a summarized description and discussion of the first wave of the survey which was conducted in 1998 and initial findings on active life expectancy at oldest old ages. Following this introduction the authors present an outline of the survey including the sample design and an evaluation of the data quality. The third section presents their findings on active life expectancy while the fourth concludes the paper with remarks on potential future research. (excerpt modified)