Long-term health impacts of forced early retirement among steelworkers.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies of the health impacts of retirement have not investigated the effects of forced early retirement following plant closings. METHODS: Using a geriatric database representative of elderly people, the health impacts on employees forced to take early retirement from steel mills in the Youngstown, Ohio, area were assessed. A study group of forced early retirees was compared with two control groups: (1) regular steel industry retirees, and (2) regular retirees from jobs outside the steel industry. Utilizing multivariate analysis techniques, the effects of retirement on a number of different health measures were isolated. RESULTS: Over the long term, the health of forced retirees does not seem adversely affected by sudden job loss and unexpected retirement, at least in the steel industry. CONCLUSIONS: Continuity theories of retirement--that workers do not experience abrupt catastrophic changes in lifestyle and in health--best explain the lack of negative health impacts.