To discover whether successful aging, understood as a multidimensional concept, predicts further survival in very old people.
The population sample consisted of 1,370 persons aged 90 or over in the Vitality 90+ study. Four alternative models of successful aging were constructed, each of them consisting of physical, psychological, and social dimensions. Mortality was followed up after 4 and 7 years.
Three out of four models significantly predicted survival at both follow-ups for the whole group. Separately, "success" in the physical, psychological, and social components was also associated with higher survival. The associations were stronger in women than in men.
Successful aging, measured using physical, psychological, and social dimensions, predicts the length of future life in nonagenarians.