Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour with Retirement in Maltese Civil Servants: A Dialectical Mixed-Method Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Retirement significantly impacts lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB).
• Understanding these changes is crucial for promoting healthy aging and lifestyle interventions during the retirement transition.
• Maltese civil servants provide a unique demographic for studying retirement-related behavioral shifts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific changes in PA and SB following retirement.
• To explore predictors influencing PA and SB changes post-retirement.
• To compare behavioral patterns between retired and employed civil servants.

Main Methods:

• A hybrid, sequential mixed-method design combining quantitative and qualitative data collection.
• Longitudinal follow-up of civil servants aged 60+ over two years during their retirement transition.
• Data gathered via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to capture both objective and perceived behavioral changes.

Main Results:

• No significant changes in overall PA or sitting behavior were observed quantitatively post-retirement.
• Retired individuals engaged in more domestic PA, leading to increased moderate-intensity activity.
• Qualitative data indicated a perceived increase in sitting time, contrasting with quantitative findings; past PA behavior predicted future PA but not SB.

Conclusions:

• The retirement transition can alter PA patterns, particularly increasing domestic activities.
• Adoption of exercise post-retirement is a personal choice influenced by prior PA experience.
• Perceived increases in sedentary behavior are not consistently reflected in quantitative data, highlighting a potential discrepancy between perception and reality.