Dorly J. H. Deeg

Background: This study addresses late-career workforce participation and its association with health and motivation during nine years in which state pension age (SPA) rose gradually from 65 to 66.6 years in the Netherlands. Methods: Using the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, we studied workers aged 61–63 years who at 3-year follow-up had reached ages 64 years up to SPA, in 2013–2016 ( n = 82), 2016–2019 ( n = 111), and 2019–2022 ( n = 119). Workforce participation was defined as continued working and number of working hours/week. Physical and mental health included self-rated health, functional limitations, depressive symptoms, and cognitive ability. Motivation consisted of self-reported reasons for (change in) workforce participation. Logistic (continued working) and linear (working hours) regression models were controlled for age, sex, educational level, and partner status. Results: Over time, 58% (2013–2016), 82% (2016–2019), and 72% (2019–2022) continued working. Among the health indicators, only better self-rated health predicted continued working, and only in 2019–2022. In continuing workers, working hours remained stable around 31 h in 2013–2016 and 2016–2019, but decreased to 26 h in 2019–2022. Poorer physical health predicted a decrease in working hours only in 2013–2016. Only in 2019–2022, better mental health was significantly associated with a reduction in working hours. Exited workers and workers who had reduced their working hours reported a lack of motivation to work more often in 2022 than in 2019. Conclusions: In a period of rising SPA, an increasing share of workers aged 61-SPA continued work participation. Health played a minor role, whereas motivation to work became more important. Our findings suggest that the feasibility of maintaining late-career workers in the workforce requires attention to both health maintenance and enhancement of motivational factors at work.

The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) is an ongoing prospective cohort study of older adults in the Netherlands, with data on multiple domains of functioning available over a period of more than 30 years of follow-up. The study started in 1992 with a nationally representative sample of older adults aged 55–84 years. Over the years, three refresher cohorts (two cohorts aged 55–64 years in 2002 and in 2012, and one cohort aged 60–86 years in 2024) were added. The main aim of LASA was to describe determinants, trajectories and consequences of (changes in) physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning. LASA has multiple strengths, including its multidisciplinary character, the very long period of follow-up, and the cohort-sequential design which enables the study of longitudinal changes as well as historical time trends in functioning. So far, findings based on data from LASA have been reported in more than 800 scientific publications (see www.lasa-vu.nl). In this article, we provide an update of the design and methods of LASA, including a description of several ancillary studies such as the Loneliness study and the COVID-19 study.

Background and Objectives: Despite a growing body of literature on physical functioning and informal caregiving in later life, few studies have explored how physical functioning changes over time in older caregivers versus noncaregivers and the role of different functioning types in understanding these changes. This study investigates the association between informal caregiving and changes in physical functioning over time among older adults in the Northern Netherlands. Research Design and Methods: We analyzed data from 2 waves of the Lifelines Cohort Study, using a sample of 9,912 older caregivers and noncaregivers. We examined 11 outcome variables: overall physical functioning and 10 physical functioning types (e.g., vigorous and moderate activities; lifting/carrying groceries; walking various distances). We also controlled for health and demographic characteristics. Associations between changes in physical functioning and caregiving were modeled using generalized estimating equations. Results: Caregiving affects the effect of aging on older adults’ physical functioning, with caregivers experiencing less decline in overall physical functioning, moderate activities, and lifting/carrying groceries compared with noncaregivers. Despite this, caregivers exhibited higher mental and physical impairments at baseline, contradicting aspects of the healthy caregiver hypothesis. Gender differences were significant, with women showing more limitations in physical functioning than men. Additionally, higher household income and educational attainment were associated with better physical functioning, potentially weakening the negative association between caregiving and aging. Discussion and Implications: This research contributes valuable insights into healthy aging, informal care, and disability in later life, indicating the need for tailored interventions and policies for older caregivers.

To delay social and healthcare utilisation among the ageing population, there is an increasing focus on the role of health‐promoting lifestyle adopted at an individual and/or community level. Longevity is generally viewed as the ultimate outcome of health, although a high life expectancy does not necessarily go together with health and/or a health‐promoting lifestyle. The potential coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle may vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts. This Nordic regional study situated in regions differing in longevity aims to (i) explore differences in adherence to the comprehensive, health‐promoting Blue Zone lifestyle principles in four regions in Western Finland (bilingual Ostrobothnia, Swedish‐speaking Åland and Finnish‐speaking South Ostrobothnia) and (ii) investigate regional differences in health. Thus, the present study aims to examine if adherence to Blue Zone lifestyle principles and good health is highest in the most longevous region. Survey data from the Gerontological Regional Database in 2021–2022 were used. Marginal means were calculated using ANOVA. The results showed that Åland, Finland’s most longevous region, showed the best health and higher environmental agreeableness, while deviated from several Blue Zone lifestyle principles. Swedish‐speaking Ostrobothnia showed good health and adherence to the Blue Zone lifestyle. South Ostrobothnia showed the poorest health but as much adherence to the Blue Zone lifestyle as Swedish‐speaking Ostrobothnia. Finnish‐speaking Ostrobothnia deviated the most from the Blue Zone lifestyle. The findings imply that Nordic longevous regions do not necessarily adhere to the Blue Zone lifestyle. Future research incorporating individual, community and societal factors could further elucidate whether and how longevity, lifestyle and health are interconnected in different ethnolinguistic contexts to further advance the understanding of healthy ageing and improve the implementation of effective health‐promoting initiatives.

Background and Objectives: “Blue Zones” (BZs) are regions with exceptionally high numbers of longevous inhabitants. Several factors have been suggested to promote longevity in BZs, but the evidence generally does not meet scientific quality criteria. We aimed to characterize a municipality as a “relative BZ,” satisfying 3 criteria: compared to other municipalities, more exceptionally longevous inhabitants, a higher life expectancy, and a more stable population. Research Design and Methods: The population-based Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam has been ongoing since 1992 in 11 municipalities across the Netherlands with 3- or 4-yearly measurement waves. Using all available waves, we included 39 genetic, personal, sociocultural, and environmental characteristics. Results: One municipality satisfied the 3 BZ criteria. In comparison with participants in other municipalities in the same province and other provinces in the Netherlands, BZ-participants more often had a polygenic risk score linked to longevity, smoked less, consumed less alcohol and more fruit, biked more minutes, did more often paid work, practiced singing more often, attached higher importance to religion, and lived in a more walkable and livable environment. In contrast, BZ-participants had a slower walking speed, more depressive symptoms, felt less purpose in life, had a larger waist circumference, walked and did sports less often, consumed less vegetables, and exchanged less instrumental support. Other indicators of their physical and mental health and social connectedness did not substantially differ from non-BZ-participants. Discussion and Implications: Rather than clues to healthy aging, our findings suggest factors conducive to longevity regardless of impaired health.

Background: The well-known disablement process has been conceptualized as a series of transitions between progressive states of functional decline. We studied joint patterns of change within disablement states defined as walking speed, grip strength, and self-reported disability. Methods: 1702 participants aged 65 and over were included from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, spanning seven waves over 20 years (1996–2016). Group-based multi-trajectory modeling yielded trajectory clusters (TCs) of different patterns of change, further characterized by baseline sociodemographic characteristics, physical and cognitive health, and survival rate. Results: Five TCs were identified, distinguished by increasing baseline age. Walking speed and disability showed generally concomitant trajectories. Women had poorer trajectories in grip strength than men, but not in walking speed and disability. Poor physical health distinguished especially the poorest, and cognitive impairment distinguished especially the one-before-poorest from the better TCs. Discussion: The findings suggest that the disablement states are not generally distinct or sequential.

Purpose: We examined health trajectories of Dutch older workers across their exit from the workforce in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, testing the hypothesis that pre-post-exit health trajectories of workers with favourable and unfavourable working conditions increasingly diverged over time due to policy measures to extend working life. Methods: The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam includes baseline samples in 1992/1993, 2002/2003 and 2012/2013 with two 3-year follow-up waves each. Selected respondents were aged 55 years and over who exited from a paid job within the first or second 3-year interval, up to and including the statutory retirement age (N = 522). Pre-post-exit trajectories were modelled using Generalized Estimating Equations with outcomes self-rated health and physical limitations and determinants physical demands, psychosocial demands, and psychosocial resources. Results: Average work exit age rose from 60.7 in the 1990s to 62.9 in the 2010s. On average, self-rated health decreased somewhat over successive periods and did not show pre-post-exit change; average physical limitations increased substantially both over successive periods and from pre- to post-exit. No support is found for our hypothesis. However, regardless of work exposures, we found sharp pre-post-exit increases in physical limitations in the 2010s. Conclusion: Although these findings provide no support for our hypothesis of diverging health trajectories over time based on work exposure, they show that exiting at a higher age is linked to poorer pre- and post-exit health and to pre-post-exit increases in physical limitations, suggesting greater health care costs in the near future.