Satisfação com a vida, autoavaliação de saúde e aposentadoria: Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil)

Abstract

Retirement is a life period with multidimensional repercussions that can affect well-being and health, especially in the context of the accelerated aging of the Brazilian population. Using the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), this thesis investigated whether retirement is associated with greater life satisfaction, identifiedd trajectories of self-rated health around retirement, and examined their association with sociodemographic, occupational, and health characteristics. In Article 1, 13,645 participants from visit 2 (2012- 2014), active and retired, were included. Life satisfaction was obtained from the Satisfaction With Life Scale. The explanatory variables were: current occupational status (not retired, retired); work engagement after retirement (not retired, retired and working, retired and not working); time since retirement (not retired, >0-3, >3-8, >8-15, >15 years). Multiple linear regression models were used. After considering sociodemographic and health indicators, life satisfaction was higher for retired individuals (β= 0.50, 95%CI: 0.32;0.68) than not retired. Retirees who were not working (β:0.56, 95%CI: 0.33;0.78) seemed to be more satisfied than those working (β:0.46, 95%CI:0.26-0.66). Life satisfaction was greater among those who retired: >0-3 years (β:0.57, 95%CI: 0.33-0.81), >8-15 years (β:0.66, 95%CI: 0.34-0.98), and >15 years (β:0.51, 95%CI: 0.27-0.74) as compared to active workers. These associations were not modified by gender or type of work. Article 2 used data from visits 1 (2008-2010), 2 (2012-2014), 3 (2017-2019), and annual follow-up (2009-2019) over 11 years of observations from 940 retired participants between visits 1 and 2. We used Latent Class Growth analysis to identify trajectories of self-rated health. Multinomial logistic regression models were used. Four trajectories were identified: stable good (66.2%), stable poor (13.9%), unstable with improvement after retirement (8.0%), and unstable with worsening after retirement (11.9%). The two unstable trajectories were were categorized as "unstable health”. After adjustments, age, lower education, manual occupation (OR:1.76; 95%CI:1.10-2.82), smoking and physical inactivity increased the chances of an "unstable health" trajectory compared to "stable good”. Age, lower education (OR:2.40; 95%CI:1.35-4.27), low job control (OR:2.03; 95%CI:1.05- 3.94), smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity rose the chances of a “stable poor” trajectory, compared to the stable good one. In conclusion, retirees were more satisfied with life than non-retirees. Most retirees sustain a good health trajectory throughout the retirement transition. Preretirement occupational characteristics were associated with worse health trajectories. These findings can help collective and individua health-related decisions.