Years Lived without Chronic Diseases after Statutory Retirement - A Register Linkage Follow-up Study in Finland 2000-2021

Key points1) Women get to spend more healthy years on retirement, but no clear occupational class gradient could be seen. 2) Retiring early to statutory retirement is associated with more healthy years on retirement. 3) Policies aiming to change the retirement age should consider the equitability and effects on the health of the retirees. ObjectivesLonger lifespans lead to longer time on retirement, despite the efforts to raise the retirement age. Therefore, it is important to study how the retirement years can be spent without diseases. This study examined socioeconomic and sociodemographic differences in healthy years spent on retirement. MethodsWe followed a cohort of retired Finnish municipal employees (N=4231, average follow-up 15.4 years) on national administrative registers for major chronic diseases: cancer, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, mental disorders, and alcohol-related disorders. Median healthy years on retirement and age at first occurrence of illness (ICD-10 and ATC-based) in each combination of sex, occupational class, and age of retirement were predicted using Royston-Parmar models. Prevalence rates for each diagnostic group were calculated. ResultsMost healthy years on retirement were spent by women having worked in semi-professional jobs who retired at age 60-62 (median predicted healthy years 11.6, 95% CI 10.4-12.7). The least healthy years on retirement were spent by men having worked in routine non-manual jobs who retired after age 62 (median predicted healthy years 6.5, 95% CI 4.4-9.5). Diabetes was slightly more common among lower occupational class women, and dementia among manual working women having retired at age 60-62. DiscussionHealthy years on retirement are not enjoyed equally by women and men and those who retire early or later. Policies aiming to increase the retirement age should consider the effects of these gaps on retirees and the equitability of those effects.