Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29280030›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2018

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study.

Baowen Xue, Dorina Cadar, Maria Fleischmann, Stephen Stansfeld, Ewan Carr, Mika Kivimäki, Anne McMunn, Jenny Head

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed
18.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 102 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Baowen XueResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK. baowen.xue.10@ucl.ac.uk.
Dorina CadarDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Maria FleischmannResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Stephen StansfeldCentre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Ewan CarrResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Mika KivimäkiResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Anne McMunnResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Jenny HeadResearch Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
University College London · GBQueen Mary University of London · GB

Funding

British Heart Foundation RG/16/11/32334Medical Research Council G0902037Medical Research Council MR/K013351/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

According to the 'use it or lose it' hypothesis, a lack of mentally challenging activities might exacerbate the loss of cognitive function. On this basis, retirement has been suggested to increase the risk of cognitive decline, but evidence from studies with long follow-up is lacking. We tested this hypothesis in a cohort of 3433 civil servants who participated in the Whitehall II Study, including repeated measurements of cognitive functioning up to 14 years before and 14 years after retirement. Piecewise models, centred at the year of retirement, were used to compare trajectories of verbal memory, abstract reasoning, phonemic verbal fluency, and semantic verbal fluency before and after retirement. We found that all domains of cognition declined over time. Declines in verbal memory were 38% faster after retirement compared to before, after taking account of age-related decline. In analyses stratified by employment grade, higher employment grade was protective against verbal memory decline while people were still working, but this 'protective effect' was lost when individuals retired, resulting in a similar rate of decline post-retirement across employment grades. We did not find a significant impact of retirement on the other cognitive domains. In conclusion, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that retirement accelerates the decline in verbal memory function. This study points to the benefits of cognitively stimulating activities associated with employment that could benefit older people's memory.

Indexed as

EmploymentLife Change EventsAgedAgingCognitionCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRetirementCognitionEmployment gradeLongitudinal studyPiecewise regressionRetirement

Identifiers

PMID29280030
PMCPMC6153553
OpenAlexW2775903111

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.