Impact of retirement transition on health, well-being and health behaviours: critical insights from an overview of reviews

IF 4.9 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Social Science & Medicine Pub Date : 2025-04-03 DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118049

Giacomo Pietro Vigezzi , Chiara Barbati , Elena Maggioni , Sari Stenholm , Anna Odone , the Italian Working Group on Retirement and Health, A. Amerio , C. Ardito , P. Bertuccio , G. Costa , A. d’Errico , L. Gentile , A. Odone , G.P. Vigezzi

{"title":"Impact of retirement transition on health, well-being and health behaviours: critical insights from an overview of reviews","authors":"Giacomo Pietro Vigezzi , Chiara Barbati , Elena Maggioni , Sari Stenholm , Anna Odone , the Italian Working Group on Retirement and Health, A. Amerio , C. Ardito , P. Bertuccio , G. Costa , A. d’Errico , L. Gentile , A. Odone , G.P. Vigezzi","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118049","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Retirement is a pivotal life course transition wich may have profound implications for health, well-being and health behaviours. Despite extensive research and theoretical debate, the impact of retirement on health remains inconclusive, with studies reporting positive, negative, or no effects.</div><div>This overview of reviews synthesises evidence from 15 systematic reviews (4 meta-analyses) assessing the relationship between retirement and physical and mental health outcomes (including mortality, mental health, cognitive decline and cardiovascular diseases) and health behaviours (including physical activity, diet, smoking and alcohol consumption). The review adheres to PRIOR guidelines and assesses the quality of the literature and existing methodological challenges.</div><div>Findings indicate that retirement's impact varies widely depending on socioeconomic status (SES), job characteristics, and individual lifestyle factors. Retirees with higher SES generally experience improved mental health and increased physical activity, whereas those with lower SES are more prone to declines in physical and mental health, increased sedentary behaviour, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Evidence on cognitive decline and mortality remains mixed.</div><div>This review highlights critical methodological issues in the available literature, including inconsistent definitions of retirement, reliance on self-reported health data, and biases like reverse causality and healthy worker effect. Future research should prioritise life course longitudinal designs and cross-country comparisons informed by stronger theoretical grounding to untangle the complex relationship between retirement and health. Policy efforts should target vulnerable groups, particularly those from lower SES, by promoting physical activity, mental well-being, and social engagement during and after the transition to retirement. Tailored interventions across retirement transition could mitigate health disparities and improve overall well-being in later life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 118049"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Science & Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362500379X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Retirement is a pivotal life course transition wich may have profound implications for health, well-being and health behaviours. Despite extensive research and theoretical debate, the impact of retirement on health remains inconclusive, with studies reporting positive, negative, or no effects.

This overview of reviews synthesises evidence from 15 systematic reviews (4 meta-analyses) assessing the relationship between retirement and physical and mental health outcomes (including mortality, mental health, cognitive decline and cardiovascular diseases) and health behaviours (including physical activity, diet, smoking and alcohol consumption). The review adheres to PRIOR guidelines and assesses the quality of the literature and existing methodological challenges.

Findings indicate that retirement's impact varies widely depending on socioeconomic status (SES), job characteristics, and individual lifestyle factors. Retirees with higher SES generally experience improved mental health and increased physical activity, whereas those with lower SES are more prone to declines in physical and mental health, increased sedentary behaviour, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Evidence on cognitive decline and mortality remains mixed.

This review highlights critical methodological issues in the available literature, including inconsistent definitions of retirement, reliance on self-reported health data, and biases like reverse causality and healthy worker effect. Future research should prioritise life course longitudinal designs and cross-country comparisons informed by stronger theoretical grounding to untangle the complex relationship between retirement and health. Policy efforts should target vulnerable groups, particularly those from lower SES, by promoting physical activity, mental well-being, and social engagement during and after the transition to retirement. Tailored interventions across retirement transition could mitigate health disparities and improve overall well-being in later life.

查看原文本刊更多论文

退休过渡对健康、福祉和健康行为的影响：审查概述的重要见解

退休是一个关键的生命过程过渡，可能对健康、福祉和健康行为产生深远的影响。尽管进行了广泛的研究和理论辩论，但退休对健康的影响仍然没有定论，研究报告有积极影响、消极影响或没有影响。本综述综合了来自15项系统综述（4项荟萃分析）的证据，评估了退休与身心健康结果（包括死亡率、心理健康、认知能力下降和心血管疾病）和健康行为（包括身体活动、饮食、吸烟和饮酒）之间的关系。该综述遵循PRIOR指南，评估文献质量和现有方法学挑战。研究结果表明，退休对社会经济地位（SES）、工作特征和个人生活方式的影响差异很大。社会经济地位较高的退休人员通常会改善心理健康状况，增加身体活动，而社会经济地位较低的退休人员则更容易出现身心健康状况下降、久坐行为增加和心血管疾病不良后果。关于认知能力下降和死亡率的证据仍然是混杂的。这篇综述强调了现有文献中关键的方法学问题，包括对退休的定义不一致，对自我报告的健康数据的依赖，以及反向因果关系和健康工作者效应等偏见。未来的研究应该优先考虑生命历程纵向设计和跨国比较，通过更强的理论基础来解开退休与健康之间的复杂关系。政策努力应针对弱势群体，特别是社会经济地位较低的群体，在退休期间和退休后促进身体活动、心理健康和社会参与。在退休过渡期间，量身定制的干预措施可以减轻健康差距，改善晚年的整体福祉。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Social Science & Medicine PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

5.60%

发文量

762

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Social Science & Medicine provides an international and interdisciplinary forum for the dissemination of social science research on health. We publish original research articles (both empirical and theoretical), reviews, position papers and commentaries on health issues, to inform current research, policy and practice in all areas of common interest to social scientists, health practitioners, and policy makers. The journal publishes material relevant to any aspect of health from a wide range of social science disciplines (anthropology, economics, epidemiology, geography, policy, psychology, and sociology), and material relevant to the social sciences from any of the professions concerned with physical and mental health, health care, clinical practice, and health policy and organization. We encourage material which is of general interest to an international readership.