Mental health in the population approaching retirement age in relation to physical health, functional ability and creativity. Findings of the TURVA project.

This is the second paper dealing with a Finnish long-term prospective study, the objective of which is to shed light on adjustment to retirement and old age. At this point, only the results of the initial survey carried out in 1982 are available. The material consisted of a random sample of 200 individuals born in 1920 and living in Turku, and a corresponding sample of 189 persons living in rural areas in the neighborhood of Turku. The method consisted of a structured interview, certain questionnaires and a physical examination. There was a considerable discrepancy between the subjects' subjective working disability and the frequency of evident and handicapping physical illnesses found by the physician. This difference was largely explained in terms of mental problems. Dissatisfaction with life was clearly more common in subjects receiving a disability pension and in those classified as psychiatric cases than in others.