Research news: Physically and mentally straining job increases the need for hospital care in old age
Mentally and particularly physically straining work in midlife increased the need for hospital care in older age, reveals a new study published in the Age and Ageing journal. This was confirmed in the Finnish Longitudinal Study on Municipal Employees (FLAME), a 28-year follow-up on middle-aged public sector employees.
Dr. Mikaela von Bonsdorff points out that the cohort members who had high mental or physical job strain in midlife needed more hospital care in older age and also after the transition to retirement.
“Work comprises a large part of the adult life but little is still known about the potential long-term effects that work has on health and functioning in old age. These findings are important while the demands of the working life are increasing and, simultaneously, the ageing workforce is expected to retire at an older age”, says Dr. von Bonsdorff.
These new findings suggest that adjusting the demands of work and promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of ageing workforce may hinder or slow down the rate of health decline and disability after retirement.
The FLAME study was initiated in 1981 by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and comprised nearly 6,000 public sector employees working in white-collar and blue-collar professions. The study group consists of researchers from the Gerontology Research Center at the University of Jyväskylä, the University of Tampere and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Further information:
Dr. Mikaela von Bonsdorff
Gerontology Research Center and Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Tel: +358 400 342 692, mikaela.vonbonsdorff@jyu.fi
Original publication:
von Bonsdorff MB, von Bonsdorff ME, Törmäkangas T, Kulmala J, Seitsamo J, Leino-Arjas P, Nygård CH, Ilmarinen J, Rantanen T. Mental and physical job strain in midlife and use of hospital care in later life: A 28-year prospective follow-up. Age and Ageing doi 10.1093/ageing/aft192. Open access: http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/12/06/ageing.aft192.short?rss=1