title: Effect of retirement on sleep disturbances: the GAZEL prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Changes in health following retirement are poorly understood. We used serial measurements to assess the effect of retirement on sleep disturbances.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The French national gas and electricity company.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen thousand seven hundred fourteen retired employees (79% men).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Annual survey measurements of sleep disturbances ranging from 7 years before to 7 years after retirement (a mean of 12 measurements). Before retirement 22.2% to 24.6% of participants reported having disturbed sleep. According to repeated-measures logistic-regression analysis with generalized estimating equations estimation, the odds ratio (OR) for having a sleep disturbance in the postretirement period was 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.71-0.77), compared with having a sleep disturbance in the preretirement period. The postretirement improvement in sleep was more pronounced in men (OR 0.66 [0.63-0.69]) than in women (OR 0.89 [0.84-0.95]) and in higher-grade workers than lower-grade workers. Postretirement sleep improvement was explained by the combination of preretirement risk factors suggesting removal of work-related exposures as a mechanism. The only exception to the general improvement in sleep after retirement was related to retirement on health grounds. In this group of participants, there was an increase in sleep disturbances following retirement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Repeated measurements provide strong evidence for a substantial and sustained decrease in sleep disturbances following retirement. The possibility that the health and well-being of individuals are significantly worse when in employment than following retirement presents a great challenge to improve the quality of work life in Western societies in which the cost of the aging population can only be met through an increase in average retirement age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Finland. jussi.vahtera@ttl.fi
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vahtera
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Westerlund
authors.forename: Martica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Noora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sjösten
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivimäki
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: SalO
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ferrie
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jokela
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pentti
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh-Manoux
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012179:Retirement; D012307:Risk Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors