Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA.

TitleAssociation of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsWu, C, Odden, MC, Fisher, GG, Stawski, RS
JournalJ Epidemiol Community Health
Volume70
Issue9
Pagination917-23
Date Published2016 Sep
ISSN Number1470-2738
KeywordsAdult, Aged, Female, Health Status, Humans, Life Expectancy, Life Style, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Mortality, Premature, Retirement, Risk Factors, United States
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Retirement is an important transitional process in later life. Despite a large body of research examining the impacts of health on retirement, questions still remain regarding the association of retirement age with survival. We aimed to examine the association between retirement age and mortality among healthy and unhealthy retirees and to investigate whether sociodemographic factors modified this association.

METHODS: On the basis of the Health and Retirement Study, 2956 participants who were working at baseline (1992) and completely retired during the follow-up period from 1992 to 2010 were included. Healthy retirees (n=1934) were defined as individuals who self-reported health was not an important reason to retire. The association of retirement age with all-cause mortality was analysed using the Cox model. Sociodemographic effect modifiers of the relation were examined.

RESULTS: Over the study period, 234 healthy and 262 unhealthy retirees died. Among healthy retirees, a 1-year older age at retirement was associated with an 11% lower risk of all-cause mortality (95% CI 8% to 15%), independent of a wide range of sociodemographic, lifestyle and health confounders. Similarly, unhealthy retirees (n=1022) had a lower all-cause mortality risk when retiring later (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.94). None of the sociodemographic factors were found to modify the association of retirement age with all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: Early retirement may be a risk factor for mortality and prolonged working life may provide survival benefits among US adults.

URLhttp://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2016/03/21/jech-2015-207097.abstract
DOI10.1136/jech-2015-207097
User Guide Notes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27001669?dopt=Abstract

Endnote ID

999999

Alternate JournalJ Epidemiol Community Health
Citation Key6497
PubMed ID27001669
PubMed Central IDPMC6524971
Grant ListP30 AG012846 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R03 AG042919 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States