Use of health care services following mandatory retirement

I examined the use of health care services before and after mandatory retirement. Data were collected from provincial medical care and hospital insurance records for each of 88 retirees. Interview data provided information about selected psychosocial and health factors which earlier studies found to be related to health status. Two patterns in use of health care services were found: in one group (N = 54), use of health care services increased and in the other group (N = 34), use of services decreased following mandatory retirement. Discriminant analysis procedures were applied to determine which factors could predict group membership. Two factors were found to be important for correct identification of group membership: part-time employment and including all food groups in the diet on the day before the interview. Based on this combination of factors, group membership could be correctly identified 55% of the time for the increased usage group, and 82% of the time for the decreased usage group.