The relation between age of retirement and frailty in later life? A cross-sectional study in Flemish older adults

Michael C.J Van Der Elst,Birgitte Schoenmakers,Dominique Verté,Liesbeth De Donder,Nico De Witte,Sarah Dury,Bram Fret,Jeroen Luyten,Jos M.G.A Schols,Gertrudis I.J.M Kempen,Jan De Lepeleire

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2021.104473

Abstract

BackgroundPolicymakers in several European countries, concerned about the sustainability of their pension system, have raised the statutory retirement age. While several studies investigated the effect of retirement on health, the relationship between retirement and frailty is neglected. Notwithstanding, frailty is associated with adverse outcomes. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between age of retirement and frailty in later life. MethodsData of the Belgian Ageing Studies, a cross-sectional research project was used. The present study includes N=12659 participants (>60y) in 83 Flemish municipalities. To address reverse causality, only participants not retired because of health-related reasons were included. The Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument, a multidimensional frailty scale with four domains (physical, psychological, social and environmental) was used to operationalize frailty. Univariate general linear regression analyses (GLM) were performed for scores on the total frailty scale and the four subdomains separately. The analysis was done for men and women separately, since both groups have different labor trajectories. ResultsThe present study found a negative association between age of retirement and physical frailty for both men and women in later life, and total frailty for men, although the differences were small. No evidence was found for a relation between age of retirement and the other subdomains of frailty. ConclusionsThe results suggest that age of retirement is not a clinically relevant predictor for frailty in later life. Differences within and between subpopulations (e.g., profession) can shed a new light on this relation.

Highlights

Demographic changes such as increased longevity have led to widespread public concerns in many countries about the sustainability of their pension systems
While previous research mainly examined the relationship between retirement and health, the present study focuses on frailty
The present results indicate that men retiring at age 55 or younger had a significant higher score on total frailty (β = 2.141, p < 0.05 CI: [0.124, 4.158]) and physical frailty (β = 1.354, p < 0.05 CI: [0.151, 2.558]) in comparison with men retiring after the statutory retirement age of > 65

Summary

Introduction

Demographic changes such as increased longevity have led to widespread public concerns in many countries about the sustainability of their pension systems. Heller-Sahlgren reports that spending a longer time in retirement has a negative impact on self-assessed, general, mental and physical health (Heller-Sahlgren, 2012). The lowest prevalence of frailty was observed in former business executives who retired at ages 66–67 years (Haapanen et al, 2020). These contradictory results can be partly explained by the different impact of retirement on a person. Results: The present study found a negative association between age of retirement and physical frailty for both men and women in later life, and total frailty for men, the differences were small. Differences within and between subpopulations (e.g., profession) can shed a new light on this relation

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Conclusion