Report: Games, Tech Increasingly Common In Over-100s

Care provider Evercare has revealed the results of the organization's second annual survey of those turning a hundred or older this year, revealing that one in seven of the aging respondents has played video games. Particularly interesting about this finding is that these individuals were born on or before 1907, over 60 years before the first commercially available video game. Pong, while not the earliest video game, is still considered to be one of the primary grandfathers of the medium, which was first made available in 1972. Other interesting findings of this survey include that six percent said they had used the internet, while four percent said they had listened to music on an iPod. The annual Evercare 100 @ 100 Survey, which polls 100 year olds about their practices and habits, found that the 'centenarians' follow “current trends like reality television, video games and iPods,” as well as concern themselves with topics such as good eating and current events. For the 2007 survey, telephone interviews were conducted with a total of 100 nationally-representative adults (70 females and 30 males) who were 99 years old or older, with 95 percent of the respondents between the ages of 100 and 104. According to Evercare, the survey's goal is to “better understand” and provide insight into the “one of the fastest-growing segments of the population,” namely those 100 years old and older. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are nearly 80,000 centenarians in the United States, and that number is projected to reach 580,000 by 2040. Said Evercare CEO Dr. John Mach, “We conduct this annual survey because Evercare is constantly striving towards a better understanding of the oldest Americans so that we may continue to provide the kind of care that keeps people healthy and independent for as long as possible.”