Age retirement in women. I. General presentation

Within the framework of a longitudinal population study of age retirement in women, the short-term consequences of retirement were studied in 116 municipally employed women in the city of Malmö (230,000 inhabitants) in southern Sweden half a year before and half a year after retirement. The women represented about 40 different occupations, mostly within the sectors of health care, social services and administration. The study comprised four main parts, namely health and discomfort, social psychology, dietary habits and body composition, and oral health. The present paper concerns a general presentation of the study including sampling procedures and analyses of non-response. The response rate was a little more than 70%. Only a few significant differences were observed between non-responders and responders, such as more working hours per week, and more frequently a negative attitude towards retirement in the non-responders after retirement. This longitudinal prospective study of the same cohort of women has so far shown that the general design, sampling procedure and general methods of data collection appear adequate and feasible. In general, the study population was representative of women about to retire from municipal employment in Sweden. Results from the different studies will be presented elsewhere. To illustrate not only the short-term effects of retirement we intend to reexamine the same women about 2 years after the retirement.