Effect of Retirement on Cognition: Evidence From the Irish Marriage Bar

Work status among middle-aged and older individuals in China: the effects on physical and mental health

Objective

China's middle-aged and older population is a rich source of human capital. Therefore, considering the health of this group is important when creating and using human resources.

Methods

Using data from the nationwide China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2018 baseline survey of 19,000 adults ages 45 years and older, this study was an objective investigation of the effects of work on the physical and mental health of middle-aged and older adults. We conducted several types of analyses using details of participants' lifestyles and demographic characteristics (living environment, education, financial level, and access to medical services) with work (i.e., employment or volunteer work) as a primary input component of health production to examine their effects on the health status of middle-aged and older individuals.

Results

Six primary outcomes were identified: (1) Employment positively affects both the physical and mental health of middle-aged and older people; (2) Employment can influence the physical and mental health of middle-aged and older people through income, cognitive level, and social support networks; (3) Compared to non-self-employment, self-employment dramatically worsens physical health but has no apparent detrimental effects on mental health. Compared to non-agricultural employment, agricultural labor affects both physical and mental health. (4) Employment has more positive physical and mental health effects in Individuals with higher rather than lower levels of education. (5) Employment opportunities in the eastern region are more likely to promote better physical health than those in the central and western regions of China, although the effects on mental health are negative. (6) When considering groups at different ages of the lifespan, the 60-65-year-old group, who are just entering retirement probably benefit more from continuing work.

Conclusion

We provide some recommendations to encourage middle-aged and older people to work and utilize their experience, which will enhance their physical and mental well-being and help them in realize their own value and social integration.

Loneliness and HbA1c among older Irish couples: Retirement as life stage context

Loneliness is an important determinant of health and mortality among the aging population, including for cardiometabolic health. Yet research has largely focused on individual experiences of loneliness, rather than taking intimate relationships into account. However, recent studies have highlighted that loneliness of a partner may have implications for one's own health and well-being as well. Indeed, this is particularly true among older couples, as life events and shifting time horizons (e.g., retirement, reduced social networks) can lead to greater prominence and salience of one's closest relationships. This study uses dyadic structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) examining associations between loneliness and HbA1c levels among 1331 older married couples from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA, 2009-2011). Furthermore, we test whether any such actor or partner effects vary by employment status. Results indicated that one's own loneliness was not significantly linked with HbA1c, irrespective of employment status. However, loneliness of a dyadic partner was significantly associated with elevated HbA1c among retired persons only. These findings underscore that relationship and life course context are crucial when considering the dyadic implications of loneliness for health among the older population.

Late-career unemployment and cognitive abilities

We study the effect of unemployment on cognitive abilities among individuals aged between 50 and 65 in Europe. To this end, we exploit plant closures and use flexible event-study estimations together with an experimentally elicited measure of fluid intelligence, namely word recall. We find that, within a time period of around eight years after the event of unemployment, cognitive abilities only deteriorate marginally - the effects are insignificant both in statistical and economic terms. We do, however, find significant effects of late-career unemployment on the likelihood to leave the labor force, and short-term effects on mental health problems such as depression and sleep problems.

The Effects of Sustained Literacy Engagement on Cognition and Sentence Processing Among Older Adults

Considerable evidence suggests that language processing depends on memory processes, which are vulnerable to declines with aging. Yet little is known about the effects of language processing in the form of sustained literacy engagement on memory and other aspects of cognition. In the current study, adults (60-79 years of age) were randomly assigned to an 8-week program of leisure reading (n = 38) or to an active puzzle control (n = 38). Relative to the control, the experimental group showed differential improvement in verbal working memory and episodic memory. The experimental group also showed evidence of enhanced conceptual integration in sentence processing. These effects did not vary as a function of personality characteristics (e.g., openness) hypothesized to be compatible with literacy engagement. These findings support the idea that the exercise of cognitive capacities in the context of everyday life may offset age-related impairment in areas of cognition engaged by the activity, regardless of dispositional fit.

Respiratory Function and Muscle Strength Vs. Past Work Type: a Cross-Sectional Study Among Retirees

Objectives

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the effects of past occupational activity on muscle strength and respiratory function among retirees.

Methods

A total of 205 community-dwelling older adults participated in the study. Age (≥60 years) and cessation of professional activity (retirement) constituted the inclusion criteria. The International Standardized Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) was used to stratify the participants into white- or blue-collar groups. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV) in the first second, inspiratory vital capacity (IVC) parameters, and hand grip strength were tested.

Results

Statistically significant differences in IVC and FVC scores were found in white- and blue-collar workers after adjusting for sex and age (ANCOVA). White-collar men had significantly higher IVC as compared to blue-collar men.

Conclusions

Blue-collar male workers may be prone to deteriorating respiratory function in older age. It is vital to promote physical activity and educate blue-collar workers about the need to use respiratory protective equipment.

Mini-mental state examination trajectories after age 50 by religious affiliation and practice in Ireland

Religious attendance is sometimes associated with better health outcomes, although the link between religion and cognitive ageing is inconclusive. We aimed to assess differences in cognitive performance trajectories by religious affiliation and religious attendance. We further sought to test possible mechanisms for an association.Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a nationally representative study of the over 50 s population in Ireland, was used. We identified latent class trajectories of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance over five waves using Latent Growth Class Analysis (LGCA) on data from 7325 individuals. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of membership to each trajectory class by religious affiliation or non-affiliation, and by religious attendance and importance. Finally, we tested possible behavioural, psychological and social mechanisms. LGCA identified three trajectory classes, a 'high start' class, a 'medium start' class and a 'low start' class. There were no differences in class membership by religious affiliation or non-affiliation. Women who attended religious services were less likely to be in the low declining MMSE class. This effect was mediated by depressive symptoms, social network and smoking. Women who said religion was very important were more likely to be in the medium performing class, and this was not mediated. The cognitive trajectories of the over 50 s in Ireland vary. Variation was not influenced by religious affiliation. Religious attendance and importance had mixed effects on women's cognition trajectories.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-020-00597-0.

Gene Expression Profile in Different Age Groups and Its Association with Cognitive Function in Healthy Malay Adults in Malaysia

The mechanism of cognitive aging at the molecular level is complex and not well understood. Growing evidence suggests that cognitive differences might also be caused by ethnicity. Thus, this study aims to determine the gene expression changes associated with age-related cognitive decline among Malay adults in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 healthy Malay subjects, aged between 28 and 79, and recruited around Selangor and Klang Valley, Malaysia. Gene expression analysis was performed using a HumanHT-12v4.0 Expression BeadChip microarray kit. The top 20 differentially expressed genes at p < 0.05 and fold change (FC) = 1.2 showed that PAFAH1B3, HIST1H1E, KCNA3, TM7SF2, RGS1, and TGFBRAP1 were regulated with increased age. The gene set analysis suggests that the Malay adult's susceptibility to developing age-related cognitive decline might be due to the changes in gene expression patterns associated with inflammation, signal transduction, and metabolic pathway in the genetic network. It may, perhaps, have important implications for finding a biomarker for cognitive decline and offer molecular targets to achieve successful aging, mainly in the Malay population in Malaysia.

Does postponing retirement affect cognitive function? A counterfactual experiment to disentangle life course risk factors

Evidence suggests that contemporaneous labor force participation affects cognitive function; however, it is unclear whether it is employment itself or endogenous factors related to individuals’ likelihood of employment that protects against cognitive decline. We exploit innovations in counterfactual causal inference to disentangle the effect of postponing retirement on later-life cognitive function from the effects of other life-course factors. With the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (1996–2014, n = 20,469), we use the parametric g-formula to estimate the effect of postponing retirement to age 67. We also study whether the benefit of postponing retirement is affected by gender, education, and/or occupation, and whether retirement affects cognitive function through depressive symptoms or comorbidities. We find that postponing retirement is protective against cognitive decline, accounting for other life-course factors (population: 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.20,0.47; individual: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.26,0.60). The extent of the protective effect depends on subgroup, with the highest educated experiencing the greatest mitigation of cognitive decline (individual: 50%, 95% CI: 32%,71%). By using innovative models that better reflect the empirical reality of interconnected life-course processes, this work makes progress in understanding how retirement affects cognitive function.

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Research is inconclusive as to employments' protection against cognitive decline.

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Causal inference models can better reflect interconnected life-course processes.

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The parametric g-formula shows a substantial protective effect of ongoing employment.

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Protective effect holds for all subgroups, but is greatest for the highest educated.

Cumulative employment intensity and complexity across the life course and cognitive function in later life among European women and men

PURPOSE

Relatively little is known about how working-age life course cumulative exposure to employment intensity and job complexity informs older-age cognitive function. We investigate these associations, separately for men and women, and net of known confounders.

METHODS

Using retrospective lifetime employment histories of Europeans born 1923-1959 (2004-2009, N = 22 266), we calculate cumulative working-age exposure to nonemployment, full-time and part-time employment, and a professional occupation. In gender-stratified linear regression models, these indicators predict cognitive function score based on the DemTect scale and Mini Mental State Exam.

RESULTS

Nonemployment ≥25% of the working life course was associated with poorer cognitive function for men by -0.43 points (95% CI = -0.79, -0.06) on a 19-point scale. Women's full-time employment, even if <25% of the working lifetime, was associated with a cognitive advantage over never-employment by 0.60 points (95% CI = 0.17, 1.02). Compared to predominantly nonprofessionally employed men, those working professionally for ≥75% of the life course had better cognition by 0.38 points (95% CI = 0.16, 0.60).

CONCLUSIONS

This paper provides novel evidence that older-age cognitive functioning is associated with cumulative exposure to both employment intensity and complexity, but that these relationships vary by sex.

Learning as an Important Privilege: A Life Span Perspective with Implications for Successful Aging

Research has demonstrated the cognitive and mental health benefits of learning new skills and content across the life span, enhancing knowledge as well as cognitive performance. We argue that the importance of this learning – which is not available equally to all – goes beyond the cognitive and mental health benefits. Learning is important for not only the maintenance, but also enhancement of functional independence in a dynamic environment, such as changes induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advances. Learning difficult skills and content is a privilege because the opportunities for learning are neither guaranteed nor universal, and it requires personal and social engagement, time, motivation, and societal support. This paper highlights the importance of considering learning new skills and content as an <i>important privilege</i> across the life span and argues that this privilege becomes increasingly exclusionary as individuals age, when social and infrastructural support for learning decreases. We highlight research on the potential positive and negative impacts of retirement, when accessibility to learning opportunities may vary, and research on learning barriers due to low expectations and limited resources from poverty. We conclude that addressing barriers to lifelong learning would advance theories on life span cognitive development and raise the bar for successful aging. In doing so, our society might imagine and achieve previously unrealized gains in life span cognitive development, through late adulthood.

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The study aimed to determine the longitudinal association between retirement and cognitive function, including global cognition and memory-related skills. This is a systematic review of longitudinal studies on the association between retirement and cognitive function, using Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases from inception to April 2020 and longitudinal studies on the association between retirement and cognitive function. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess risk of bias of included studies. Effect size (ES) and 95% CI were calculated using Cohen's d index. Meta-regressions were calculated on the basis of sample characteristics: percentage of women, years of follow-up and age at baseline. A total of 23 longitudinal studies were included in this systematic review. The pooled ES for the association of retirement with global cognition and memory-related skills was -0.01 (95% CI -0.02 to 0.00; I²: 0.0%) and -0.09 (95% CI -0.16 to 0.01; I²: 93%), respectively. Meta-regression analyses showed that length of follow-up, percentage of women in the sample and mean age at baseline did not influence the longitudinal association between retirement and adults' memory-related skills. The results of this study indicate that retirement has no negative effects on adults' global cognition and slightly adversely influences memory-related skills. Moreover, this association does not seem to be influenced by some demographic and study characteristics.

Choice reaction time and subsequent mobility decline: Prospective observational findings from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)

BACKGROUND

Cognitive and motor function in ageing are intertwined, but whether slower motor response time (MRT) to a cognitive stimulus could herald accelerated mobility decline is unknown. Using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), we examined whether slower MRT may predict a greater than expected increase in Time Up and Go (TUG) after 4 years.

METHODS

Participants aged 50 years or older were divided into two groups based on their mean MRT (< 250 ms versus ≥ 250 ms). A repeated measures ANOVA compared TUG trajectories between groups, controlling for baseline age, sex, height, education level, mini mental-state examination (MMSE) score, self-reported vision and hearing, medical conditions (cardiovascular, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes), and number of medications.

FINDINGS

At Wave 1, 1982 (58.7%) had a mean MRT of < 250 ms, with a mean TUG of 8.1 s (SD 1.6); and 1397 (41.3%) had an MRT of ≥ 250 ms, with a TUG of 9.0 s (SD 2.2). At Wave 3, TUG increased to 8.8 s (SD 2.0) and 10.2 s (SD 3.9), respectively. The results of the adjusted repeated measures ANOVA suggested that there was a statistically significant interaction between MRT group and Wave (P = 0.023, η2 p = 0.002).

INTERPRETATION

TILDA participants in the slower MRT group seemed to have faster mobility decline, but this effect was statistically and clinically small.

FUNDING

TILDA is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Irish Department of Health and Irish Life. Roman Romero-Ortuno is funded by Science Foundation Ireland (grant number 18/FRL/6188).