Age at retirement and long term survival of an industrial population: prospective cohort study

doi:10.1136/bmj.38586.448704.E0

BMJ 2005;331:995 (29 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.38586.448704.E0 (published 21 October 2005)

Paper

Age at retirement and long term survival of an industrial population: prospective cohort study

Shan P Tsai, manager, epidemiology¹, Judy K Wendt, senior epidemiologist¹, Robin P Donnelly, director, health services¹, Geert de Jong, senior health adviser², Farah S Ahmed, epidemiology research associate¹

¹ Shell Health Services, Shell Oil Company, 910 Louisiana, Houston, TX 77002, USA, ² Shell International, Hague, Netherlands

Correspondence to: S P Tsai shan.tsai{at}shell.com

Objective To assess whether early retirement is associated withbetter survival.

Design Long term prospective cohort study.

Setting Petroleum and petrochemical industry, United States.

Subjects Past employees of Shell Oil who retired at ages 55,60, and 65 between 1 January 1973 and 31 December 2003.

Main outcome measure Hazard ratio of death adjusted for sex,year of entry to study, and socioeconomic status.

Results Subjects who retired early at 55 and who were stillalive at 65 had a significantly higher mortality than thosewho retired at 65 (hazard ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval1.09 to 1.73). Mortality was also significantly higher for subjectsin the first 10 years after retirement at 55 compared with thosewho continued working (1.89, 1.58 to 2.27). After adjustment,mortality was similar between those who retired at 60 and thosewho retired at 65 (1.06, 0.92 to 1.22). Mortality did not differfor the first five years after retirement at 60 compared withcontinuing work at 60 (1.04, 0.82 to 1.31).

Conclusions Retiring early at 55 or 60 was not associated withbetter survival than retiring at 65 in a cohort of past employeesof the petrochemical industry. Mortality was higher in employeeswho retired at 55 than in those who continued working.

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