Factors associated with the receipt of pensions among older adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To describe the prevalence of receipt of pensions and associated factors in a nationally representative sample of the Brazilian population aged 50 years and over.METHODS We used data from 9,130 participants from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil) baseline survey. The outcome variable was receipt of pensions from any source. The exploratory variables were age, gender, residence by region and by urban/rural area, household arrangements, schooling, household assets, perception of income sufficiency, age when started working, number of chronic diseases, and functional limitation. The analyses were based on the Poisson and binary logistic regressions.RESULTS The prevalence of the receipt of pension was 54.3%. In the multivariate analysis, the following factors showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) associations with the outcome: age [Prevalence Ratio (PR) = 2.59 and 3.24 for 60–69 and 70 years], rural residence (PR = 1.23 ), residence in the Northeast, South and Southeast compared to the North (PR ranging from 1.18 to 1.23), living arrangements (PR = 1.07 and 1.15 for living with one person and living alone), perception of income sufficiency (PR = 1.08 and 1.15 for sometimes and always), functional limitation (PR = 1.13) and having 1 and ≥ 2 chronic diseases (PR = 1,09 and 1,17). Negative association was observed for 5-8 years of education. No association between age when the individual started working and the outcome was observed. Younger participants (50–59 years old) with ≥ 2 diseases or functional limitation were 31% and 63% more likely to receive pensions, respectively; the strength of these associations declined with age.CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that health conditions are important determinants of early retirement. Discussions to increase age to the retirement cannot be separated from those on improvements in the health conditions of the Brazilian population.

Cohort Profile: The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSI-Brazil)

“… 16 Access to primary care is high by international standards 15 but many hospitalizations could be prevented by more effective actions at this level of care. 17 Incapacity to work, 16 as well as the receipt of pensions, 18 is associated with worse health conditions. However, people who receive pensions are more autonomous and have more financial security.…”

Influence of retirement on health conditions and quality of life

“…Thus, retirement planning has lately been the focus of studies in Brazil 6,7 . Issues that are associated with retirement, health conditions and quality of life (QoL) are still insufficiently discussed in the Brazilian literature and, consequently, considered a challenge for health care in Brazil 8 .…”

“…Rethinking attitudes and behaviors (i.e. healthy habits) is one of the steps to achieving a natural retirement 8 . Therefore, we aimed to evaluate health conditions and QoL of retirees in the city of Rio Claro, Sao Paulo.…”

Aging and public health

“…Differences in the performance of primary care among users of the SUS are found, with a better performance of the Family Health Strategy compared to the traditional basic units 13 . Incapacity to work 14 , as well as the receipt of pensions 22 are associated with worse health conditions. However, people who receive pensions are more autonomous and have more financial security 22 .…”

“…Incapacity to work 14 , as well as the receipt of pensions 22 are associated with worse health conditions. However, people who receive pensions are more autonomous and have more financial security 22 .…”