Study shows that sleep disorders improve after retirement

A study in Nov.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that the pension is followed by a sharp decrease in the prevalence of sleep disorders. The results suggest that the general improvement of sleep is likely to result from the elimination of requirements and stress-related instead of actual health benefits of retirement. The results show that the probability of having trouble sleeping during the seven years after retirement still 26 per cent less (odds ratio 0.74) than in the seven years before going to bed adjusted. Prevalence of sleep disorders among the 14,714 participants increased from 24.2 per cent in the last years before retirement to 17.8 percent during the first year after retirement. The largest decrease in sleep was reported by participants with depression or mental fatigue before retirement. Improved sleep, so the expense was more pronounced among male workers at management levels, employees who have high psychological demands of work and those who occasionally or regularly working night shifts.

Lead author, Jussi Vahtera, professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Turku in Finland, found that participants appreciated the benefits of employment rarely these days, including a guarantee of job stability A legal age of retirement from 55 to 60 years and a company-paid pensions that 80 percent of their salary.

"We believe these results are widely applicable in situations where financial incentives are not about to retire relatively low," said Vahtera. "In countries and the positions where there is no real guarantee pensions on the financial security of working age, but may retire after a severe stress with sleep disturbance even before retirement. "

The staff participated in the study from the French national gas, electricity, Electricity of France and Gaz de France between 1990 and 2006 retire at an average age of 55 years. The study contains data from 11,581 men and 3133 women who reported insomnia at least once before and once after the year of retirement. Thirty percent of participants had worked night and 17 percent say they are depressed.

Annual survey measuring up to seven years, seven years after retirement (with an average of 12 measurements) were collected during the study period. Participants completed questionnaires on health, lifestyle, personal, familial, social and occupational factors. The presence of insomnia was experienced by a positive response to a question of a systematic checklist of over 50 medical conditions during the last 12 months indicated. Information on health and safety were also collected by the Company.

The results also show that there is a slow-growing prevalence of insomnia increases with age, we observed both before and after retirement. From the first until the seventh year after retirement, the prevalence of insomnia of 17.8 percent to 19.7 percent, but remained significantly lower than any time before retirement.

The only exception to the general improvement of sleep and after retirement, which is four percent of participants whose retirement for health reasons on the basis was. People adjusted for early retirement because he had a long illness or disability, an increase of 46 per cent chance of sleep disturbances (odds ratio 1.46) after retirement.

The authors conclude that at present where people expect to live for many years beyond the traditional age of retirement should be granted for the restructuring of working life, older workers to stay employee, without regard to their future health.