The Effect of Retirement on Cardiovascular Disease: Evidence From European Countries

TL;DR

This study explores how retirement affects cardiovascular disease in older adults, finding a delayed increase in heart attacks linked to declining mental health.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel approach to analyzing retirement's lagged impact on CVD using IV-FE and identifies mental health as a key mediator.

Findings

Retirement does not immediately increase heart attack risk but raises it by 7% within two years.

Mental health decline is a significant mediator of cardiovascular outcomes post-retirement.

Metabolic and behavioral risk factors do not significantly mediate the effect of retirement on CVD.

Abstract

Retirement marks a pivotal life stage for many individuals. As older adults transition into retirement, changes in lifestyle, socioeconomic status, income, and social relationships can significantly influence their health and well-being. This study investigates the short- and lagged-term relationship between retirement and cardiovascular disease (CVD) - one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions among older adults. Using individual-level data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we employ an Instrumental Variable Fixed Effects (IV-FE) approach to estimate both the immediate and lagged impact of retirement on CVD and further explore the underlying mechanisms and potential heterogeneity in effects. Our findings suggest that retirement does not exert a significant impact on heart attacks in the short term, but the probability of having a heart attack increases by almost 7% within two years. We further explore several underlying mechanisms through which retirement may influence CVD. While we found no significant associations between metabolic or behavioral risk factors and CVD as potential mediators, our findings highlight a notable exception: a decline in mental health, a key psychosocial risk factor, appears to significantly contribute to adverse cardiovascular outcomes following retirement. This highlights the importance of incorporating mental health support and social engagement initiatives into retirement planning and community programs for older adults.