Abstract
Study on longevity carried out in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, through the analysis of obituaries in Jornal da Tarde, a local newspaper. The 665 obituaries were analyzed throughout the periods of June, July and August of 2004 and 2005. The aim was to verify longevity of elderly residents in São Paulo metropolitan area and the aspects contained in the obituaries, such as: elderly's age group, marital status, gender prevalence (feminine or masculine), if the elderly left their families and families left by the elderly. The SPSS (version11.0) was used to deal with statisticcal data, because of the multiple choice questions, through a questionnaire elaborated after obituary clippings. Results showed a greater range of age for females, of 87,4 years of age with the deviation standard of 8,6 years and, for males, 82.1 years with deviation standard of 9 years. In relation to marital status, most part of the elderly were widows and men were in the category of being married/living together. For marital status without a partner (single, widow, separated/divorced), a higher frequency of females was observed and with a partner (married/living together), a higher frequency for males was noticed. Another significant association was encountered in relation to marital status, given that obituaries of the elderly without partners concentrated in the highest age ranges and with partners in the lower ones. The research did not find significant association concerning relatives left and type of relative left. The process longevity increasing in Brazil can be evinced by obituaries of elderly people. Longevity is a current phenomenon in the country and is determined by the highest age reached by the elderly. This process is more predominant among the female gender, and is known as feminization of old age.
Key words:
longevity; marital status; gender identity; women; family São Paulo, SP city
