A study of workload before and after retirement at the age of 65 years.

Abstract

The consultation rate in general practice is closely related to age. Lees and Cooper (1963) Clearly the consultation pattern in this practice merited further study to determine the effect of men's work on the demand for general practitioner services. This paper examines the consultation patterns of men who retired normally at the age of 65 years for the one-year period immediately preceding retirement and the one year immediately following retirement. The consultation patterns of their wives over the same two years are also examined. METHODThe records of all men born in 1900, 1901, and 1902 were extracted from the practice files. The records of men working past the age of 65 and of men retiring early were put aside. The remainder, retiring at 65 years in 1965, 1966, and 1967 respectively, were examined and data were collected of all surgery consultations for one year before retirement and one year after retirement. The records of the wives of these men were also extracted and similar data were recorded for one year before and one year after the husbands' retirement. FINDINGs THM MENThe sample contained 134 men, 79 miners and 55 non-miners. The occupations of the non-miners are shown in Table I. Table II shows the surgery workload produced by these men for the year immediately preceding and the year immediately following their retirement. More of the miners consulted at the surgery in the year before retirement than the year after. Those who did consult the doctor did so for more episodes of illness, and for each episode of illness they consulted more often. These differences between