The association between retirement and 24-hour movement behaviour composition in older adults

Retirement represents a major life-course transition that may be associated with differences in 24-hour movement behaviour composition; however, existing studies have rarely considered heterogeneity across stages of retirement. This study examined the association between retirement and 24-hour movement behaviour composition and explored whether these associations differed by sex and years since retirement.

Data were drawn from wave 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), including 728 adults (42.4% male; mean age 69.2 years) from ten European countries. Retirement status was self-reported. Daily movement behaviours, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep, were derived from thigh-worn accelerometers. Propensity score matching with inverse probability weighting was used to improve covariate balance. Compositional data analysis with isometric log-ratio transformation was applied to estimate associations between retirement status and 24-hour movement behaviour composition.

Retirement status was significantly associated with 24-hour movement behaviour composition. Compared with non-retired adults, retired individuals showed lower relative MVPA (2.87% vs. 4.43%), and higher relative SB (41.40% vs. 40.98%) and sleep (37.51% vs. 33.87%). Analyses by years since retirement indicated that those retired within the last 5 years had a similar movement behaviour composition to non-retired adults, whereas those retired for more than 5 years showed lower relative MVPA and higher relative SB and sleep, with the most distinct pattern observed among those retired for more than 20 years. These patterns were broadly similar across sexes. The association between retirement status and relative sleep appeared stronger in males than in females.

Retirement was associated with differences in the 24-hour movement behaviour composition of older adults, characterised by lower relative MVPA and higher relative SB and sleep. These differences were more evident among those retired for longer periods. The findings highlight the need for continued support for healthy movement behaviours across the retirement period.