Abstract

LOUREIRO, Helena; FONSECA, António  and  VERISSIMO, Manuel. Evolution of behaviour and health status during transition to retirement. Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2012, vol.serIII, n.8, pp.47-56. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIII1232.

Retirement is a transitional life event which requires an inevitable adaptation to change (Fonseca, 2011; Meleis, 2010). The evolution of behaviour and health status revealed by individuals during this period illustrates this and reflects the effect that this status change may have in terms of health. To understand these effects, we developed a study whose aim was to describe the evolution of behaviour and health status of individuals during retirement. This was a quantitative study, in which a questionnaire was administered to 432 individuals who had been retired for less than five years. The sample was selected by the network method and data were analysed using the SPSS17 program. After retirement, respondents improved their health behaviours, but this improvement was not as accompanied by a corresponding improvement in their health status (Body Mass Index increased in 94.8% of cases and the incidence of chronic disease by 3.7%, particularly psychiatric illness). We concluded that retirement has important implications for the health of individuals, particularly in the psychological and emotional dimensions.

Keywords : aging; retirement; health.

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