Retirement age and disability status as pathways to later-life cognitive impairment: Evidence from the Norwegian HUNT Study linked with Norwegian population registers
Zotcheva, E.; Strand, B.ør.H.; Bowen, C.E.; Bratsberg, B.; Jugessur, A.; Engdahl, B.L.; Selbaek, G.; Kohler, H.-P.; Harris, J.R.; Weiss, J.; Grøtting, M.W.; Tom, S.E.; Krokstad, S.; Stern, Y.; Håberg, A.K.; Skirbekk, V.
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 38(7): E5967
2023
ISSN/ISBN: 1099-1166 PMID: 37475192 Document Number: 427416
Research shows that retirement age is associated with later-life cognition but has not sufficiently distinguished between retirement pathways. We examined how retirement age was associated with later-life dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for people who retired via the disability pathway (received a disability pension prior to old-age pension eligibility) and those who retired via the standard pathway. The study sample comprised 7210 participants from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT4 70+, 2017-2019) who had worked for at least one year in 1967-2019, worked until age 55+, and retired before HUNT4. Dementia and MCI were clinically assessed in HUNT4 70+ when participants were aged 69-85 years. Historical data on participants' retirement age and pathway were retrieved from population registers. We used multinomial regression to assess the dementia/MCI risk for women and men retiring via the disability pathway, or early (<67 years), on-time (age 67, old-age pension eligibility) or late (age 68+) via the standard pathway. In our study sample, 9.5% had dementia, 35.3% had MCI, and 28.1% retired via the disability pathway. The disability retirement group had an elevated risk of dementia compared to the on-time standard retirement group (relative risk ratio [RRR]: 1.64, 95% CI 1.14-2.37 for women, 1.70, 95% CI 1.17-2.48 for men). MCI risk was lower among men who retired late versus on-time (RRR, 0.76, 95% CI 0.61-0.95). Disability retirees should be monitored more closely, and preventive policies should be considered to minimize the dementia risk observed among this group of retirees.