Finnish Retirement and Aging Study: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

PurposeThe Finnish Retirement and Aging (FIREA) Study was set up to study changes in health behavioural and cardiometabolic risk factors across retirement transition, and to examine the long-term consequences of work and retirement on health and functioning with advancing age.ParticipantsPublic sector workers whose estimated statutory retirement date was in 2014–2019 were invited to participate by sending them a questionnaire 18 months prior to their estimated retirement date. In the first phase of the FIREA Study, participants were followed up with annual surveys, accelerometer and clinical measurements during retirement transition into post-retirement years. The FIREA survey cohort includes 6783 participants, of which 908 belong also to the activity substudy and 290 to the clinical substudy.Findings to dateCollected data include survey measures about health, lifestyle factors, psychosocial distress, work-related factors as well as retirement intentions. Accelerometer and GPS devices are used to measure 24-hour movement behaviours. Clinical examination includes blood and hair sample, measurements of anthropometry, cardiovascular function, physical fitness, physical and cognitive function. Our results suggest that in general retirement transition seems to have beneficial influence on health behaviours as well as on physical and mental health, but there are large individual differences, and certain behaviours such as sedentariness tend to increase especially among those retiring from manual occupations.Future plansThe second phase of the FIREA Study will be conducted during 2023–2025, when participants are 70 years old. The FIREA Study welcomes research collaboration proposals that fall within the general aims of the project.

Concurrent changes in sleep and cognitive function during retirement transition: the Finnish Retirement and Aging Study

“…Simultaneously, they can be more easily optimized so that factors such as ceiling effect does not violate the data, and thus, computerized tests are specifically suitable for relatively cognitively healthy cohorts like ours. Finally, given that the FIREA clinical study population was healthier and had higher occupational status compared to the FIREA survey-only participants [31] and they were able to work until moving to statutory retirement, the generalizability of the findings to aging workers in general may be limited.…”

“…Detailed description of the FIREA study design and implementation has been reported elsewhere. [31] Shortly, participants were first contacted 18 months prior to their estimated retirement date by sending them a questionnaire. Finnish-speaking participants living in Southwest Finland whose estimated retirement date was between 2017-2019, and who were still working were invited to participate in the clinical sub-study (n = 773).…”