title: Professional and psychosocial factors affecting the intention to retire of Australian medical practitioners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the professional and personal factors associated with the intention to retire (ITR) by medical practitioners.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey of currently practising Australian doctors aged 55 or older registered with a commercial database. Participants completed an online self-report questionnaire in October 2015.
  
  
  METHODS
  Associations between intention to retire and demographic and practice characteristics; health; emotional, social and financial resources; work centrality; and anxiety about ageing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  62.0% of 1048 respondents (17.5% response rate) intended to retire, 11.4% had no intention of retiring and 26.6% were unsure. The odds of retiring were higher for those with adequate financial resources (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.31; 95% CI, 1.18-1.44) and greater anxiety about ageing (aOR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.09); the odds of retiring were lower for international medical graduates (aOR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44-0.85), for those with greater work centrality (aOR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.85-0.92) and greater emotional resources (aOR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.98). In a model including medical specialty as a variable, being a psychiatrist (aOR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.20-0.79) or general practitioner (aOR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.34-0.87) were associated with reduced odds of intending to retire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intention to retire was determined by a mixture of professional and psychosocial characteristics. In particular, our results support the view that delaying retirement by doctors may be related to the primacy of work compared with other life roles. Our results may be used to develop educational programs that support the transition to and improve adjustment to retirement.
authors.affiliation: Euroa Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital and Community Health Services, Sydney, NSW Chanaka.Wijeratne@health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Chanaka
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wijeratne
authors.affiliation: Flinders Business School, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA.
authors.forename: Joanne K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Earl
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
authors.forename: Carmelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peisah
authors.affiliation: University of Sydney, Orange, NSW.
authors.forename: Georgina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Luscombe
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tibbertsma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires