Working Beyond 65: Factors Associated with Mental Health Among Older Canadians

To examine the association between work beyond the traditional retirement age and mental health outcomes among older Canadians (65+ years) and to assess whether these associations vary by sex.

A subsample of (N = 65,033) older adults was drawn from repeated national Canadian Community Health Surveys between 2013 to 2018. Firth's logistic regression model was applied to identify factors associated with self-reported mood and anxiety disorders. Prevalence estimates and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals are reported.

The prevalence of self-reported mood and anxiety disorders were 6.9% and 5.3% respectively. We found that paid full-time work was positively associated with self-reported mood disorder (OR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.50-0.73) and self-reported anxiety disorder (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.52-0.81). Older age (75+) was positively associated with self-reported mood disorder (OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.51-0.62) and self-reported anxiety disorder (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.55-0.69). High work-related stress was a significant negative associated factor for both mental disorders [(OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.16-1.82), and (OR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.07-1.77, respectively)]. Being female, single, a current smoker, and multimorbidity were statistically significant negative associated factors for both self-reported mood and anxiety disorders. Although females reported higher prevalence of self-reported mood and anxiety disorders, the significant factors associated with these conditions were largely similar across both sexes.

Our findings emphasize the positive mental health benefits of paid work past age 65+ and its obvious financial benefit.

This research supports the idea of "active aging" and emphasize the need for further research to explore the motivations behind continued employment and their differential impact on mental health.