Affiliations: [a] Geriatric Medicine Research, Nova Scotia Health, Halifax, NS, Canada
| [b] Department of Medicine (Geriatrics), Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| [c] Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Dr. Judith Godin, 1525-5955 Veterans’ Memorial Lane, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3 H 2E1, Canada. E-mail: Judith.Godin@dal.ca.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The relationship between occupational physical activity and frailty is complex and understudied. OBJECTIVE:We explore whether moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in retirement and main lifetime occupation physical demands (OPD) are associated with frailty in retirement. METHODS:Retired adults aged 50 + who participated in waves 3-4 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe were included. We constructed a 65-item frailty index (FI; Wave 4). Linear regressions tested the independent associations between OPD (Wave 3) and retirement MVPA (Wave 4) with FI (B: 95% CI) controlling for occupation characteristics (Wave 3) and demographics (Wave 4). These models were repeated across country groups (Nordic; Mediterranean; Continental) and sexes. RESULTS:We included 8,411 adults (51.1% male) aged 72.4 years (SD 8.0). Frequent MVPA was consistently associated with lower FI (-0.09 : 0.10–-0.08, p < .001) while OPD was associated with higher FI (0.02 : 0.01-0.03, p < .001). The MVPA*OPD interaction (-0.02: -0.04–-0.00, p = .043) was weakly associated with FI, but did not explain additional model variance or was significant among any country group or sex. CONCLUSIONS:For a sample of European community-dwelling retirees, a physically demanding main lifetime occupation independently predicts worse frailty, even in individuals who are physically active in retirement.
