Anni Karjala

Background Population is rapidly ageing globally, and alcohol consumption among older adults has increased in recent years. Alcohol consumption is known to be socioeconomically patterned, but little is known about how these socioeconomic differences evolve as individuals age and over the transition into statutory retirement. Objective We aimed to examine changes in socioeconomic differences in drinking patterns during a 22-year follow-up among retiring employees. Methods We analyzed changes in drinking patterns among a cohort of ageing employees using data from the Helsinki Health Study surveying the aging City of Helsinki employees. Data were collected in five phases between 2000 and 2022. All participants were 40-60-year-old in Phase 1 and retired during the follow-up. The total number of participants was 4889. Non-drinking, binge drinking and average weekly units were used as measures for alcohol consumption. We used occupational class as our indicator of socioeconomic position and evaluated changes in alcohol consumption using generalized linear mixed effect models (GLMM). Age and gender were added as covariates. Results The higher class drunk more but the lower class were more likely to be binge drinkers or non-drinkers. During ageing, alcohol consumption by weekly doses and binge drinking decreased, and non-drinking became more common in all socioeconomic groups. The socioeconomic differences persisted over the follow-up, with little change over retirement transition. Conclusions Alcohol drinking declined, and non-drinking became more common, with socioeconomic differences in midlife persisting in older adulthood and over retirement transition.

Occupational class differences in leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) are well recognized. Less is known about how these differences develop as individuals age, and how retirement is associated with this change. We investigated how occupational class differences in LTPA change in a cohort over a 15–17 years follow‐up. We further examined, how the transition into mandatory or disability retirement contributed to the change in LTPA levels and occupational class differences. We used the data from the Helsinki Health Study surveying the aging City of Helsinki employees. In all, 8773 individuals were included in the analyses. We evaluated LTPA levels using weekly metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours and used generalized linear mixed effect models (GLMM) to estimate the development of LTPA levels. Commuting was included in the LTPA measure. Occupational class differences in LTPA emerged and widened during the follow‐up. The physical activity levels decreased in the lower occupational class and slightly increased in the higher occupational class, resulting in a difference of 4.3 MET‐hours at the end of follow‐up, accounting for 50 min of brisk walking per week. The occupational class differences emerged during transition into mandatory retirement and persisted after this. Transition into disability retirement temporarily widened the occupational class differences in LTPA levels, but the differences diminished during the follow‐up. Research on interventions to counteract the declining LTPA is needed to discover ways to prevent the widening of occupational health disparities during aging. The transition into old‐age retirement could be an optimal period for focusing these interventions.