The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
BMJ Open. 2016 Feb 16;6(2):e010164. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010164.
Retirement constitutes a major life transition that poses significant challenges to health, with many retirees experiencing a precipitous decline in health status following retirement. We examine the extent to which membership in social groups following retirement determines quality of life and mortality.
The longitudinal impact of the number of social group memberships before and after the transition to retirement was assessed on retirees' quality of life and risk of death 6 years later.
Nationally representative cohort study of older adults living in England.
Adults who underwent the transition to retirement (N=424). A matched control group (N=424) of participants who had comparable demographic and health characteristics at baseline but did not undergo the transition to retirement were also examined.
Analyses examined participants' quality of life and mortality during a period of 6 years.
Retirees who had two group memberships prior to retirement had a 2% risk of death in the first 6 years of retirement if they maintained membership in two groups, a 5% risk if they lost one group and a 12% risk if they lost both groups. Furthermore, for every group membership that participants lost in the year following retirement, their experienced quality of life 6 years later was approximately 10% lower. These relationships are robust when controlling for key sociodemographic variables (age, gender, relationship status and socioeconomic status prior to retirement). A comparison with a matched control group confirmed that these effects were specific to those undergoing the transition to retirement. The effect of social group memberships on mortality was comparable to that of physical exercise.
Theoretical implications for our understanding of the determinants of retiree quality of life and health, and practical implications for the support of people transitioning from a life of work to retirement are discussed.
退休是人生的重大转折，对健康构成重大挑战，许多退休人员在退休后健康状况急剧下降。我们研究了退休后加入社会团体的程度对生活质量和死亡率的影响。
评估退休前后加入社会团体的数量对退休人员生活质量和 6 年后死亡风险的纵向影响。
英格兰居住的老年成年人全国代表性队列研究。
经历退休过渡的成年人（N=424）。还研究了一组具有可比性的对照组（N=424），这些参与者在基线时具有类似的人口统计学和健康特征，但没有经历退休过渡。
分析在 6 年内检查了参与者的生活质量和死亡率。
退休前有两个团体成员的退休人员，如果在退休的头 6 年保持两个团体的成员资格，则有 2%的死亡风险；如果失去一个团体，则有 5%的死亡风险；如果失去两个团体，则有 12%的死亡风险。此外，在退休后的第一年，参与者每失去一个团体成员，他们 6 年后的生活质量体验就会降低约 10%。当控制关键社会人口统计学变量（退休前的年龄、性别、关系状况和社会经济地位）时，这些关系是稳健的。与匹配的对照组进行比较证实，这些影响仅适用于那些经历退休过渡的人。社会团体成员资格对死亡率的影响与体育锻炼相当。
讨论了对理解退休人员生活质量和健康决定因素的理论意义，以及对从工作生活过渡到退休的人员的支持的实际意义。
