Progress of work career, retirement-orientation and health in middle-aged workers.

A lifelong work career has been stated to have an influence on a worker's health and ability to work. Nevertheless, the significance of the work career has been neglected in most retirement-studies. The aim of the present study was to describe the associations between progress of the work career, the retirement-orientation, health and ability to work among aged workers. The data was obtained by a postal questionnaire and clinical examinations. The study group consisted of 706 (70%) middle-aged urban persons (383 women and 323 men), who were 55 years old and who lived in northern Finland. The state of health and ability to work were significantly better among the work-oriented than among the retirement-oriented workers and the health of the retired was the worst. Correspondingly, the state of health and ability to work were estimated to be better among the participants who advanced during their work career than among the other participants.