Historical demographic and epidemiological studies of aging in American Samoans.

American Samoan mortality records, from 1920 through 1988, and epidemiological survey data from 1976 are used to examine demographic definitions of the elderly in different time periods and to examine the association of body habitus and blood pressure with mortality among middle-aged and older Samoans. In the 1920s, the average Samoan lived 24 years, but over 50% of deaths occurred prior to age 15. In the 1980s the average Samoan lived about 54 years and 50% of deaths occurred after age 58.