[Strengthening the research on geriatric epidemiology and promoting the elderly health].

Currently, with the aging population, further studies on elderly health is urgently needed, especially for the oldest old who are vulnerable and longest-lived. Geriatric epidemiology deals with the application of epidemiological techniques to the study of older adults, which requires the integration of known methods to circumvent the specific problems involved in this population and to grasp the epidemiological rules of aging. This special issue on geriatric epidemiology focused on chronic diseases, mental health, cognitive function, and mortality of older adults, identified a series of modifiable risk factors of healthy aging such as lifestyles, biomarkers, and internal exposure markers. Future research needs to focus not only on chronic diseases, disabilities and mental disorders among older adults, but also on the negative impact of infectious diseases on the healthy aging and longevity.