The effect of retirement on somatic complaints

This study investigated whether the level of somatic complaint increases as men make the supposedly stressful passage from work to retirement. For 171 retirees, pre- to post-retirement changes in the sum of selected somatic complaints from the Cornell Medical Index were compared with changes over a comparable time interval (3-5 yr) in 386 age peers who continued to work. Although there was slightly increased frequency of somatic complaint over time, eventual retirees did not differ from continuing workers in the amount and direction of change. Among retirees only, change from pre-retirement complaint levels did not vary by retirement age, length of time retired, part-time work in retirement, former occupational level or marital status, nor was it affected by the circumstance of compulsory retirement. These results, which are based on a continuous measure of health status, confirm previous findings from categorical data which conclude that retirement's effect on health is negligible.