eprintid: 10202940
rev_number: 12
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/29/40
datestamp: 2025-01-07 10:20:45
lastmod: 2025-01-07 10:20:45
status_changed: 2025-01-07 10:20:45
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Sizer, AJ
creators_name: Sacker, A
creators_name: Lacey, RE
creators_name: Richards, M
title: Non-employment over the working life: Implications for cognitive function and decline in later life
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: B03
divisions: C01
divisions: D14
divisions: D12
divisions: F15
divisions: GA3
divisions: G19
divisions: G17
keywords: Ageing; Cognition; Birth cohort study; 
Life course epidemiology
note: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: Objectives:
Disuse theory predicts that cognitive function is vulnerable to transitions that remove factors that support cognitive skills. We sought to investigate whether non-employment over the working life was associated with cognitive function and decline in later life (≥60 years old), and possible gender differences in the association.
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Study design:
Longitudinal study.
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Method:
We used data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD). Cognitive function was measured by verbal memory and processing speed. Linear regression was used to test associations between non-employment duration and cognitive function at age 60–64, and conditional change models were used to examine associations between non-employment and cognitive decline from age 60–64 to 69. Gender specific models were adjusted for childhood factors and educational attainment, adult occupational features, and adult health and lifestyle indicators. Missing data was accounted for using multiple imputation by chained equations.
//
Results:
In fully adjusted models >15 years non-employment was associated with lower cognitive function at age 60–64 in men (verbal memory: −0.72, 95%CI −1.18, −0.26; processing speed: −0.61, 95%CI -1.00, −0.28), but not women. Fully adjusted models also indicated that long-term and intermediate lengths of non-employment were associated with faster decline in verbal memory (−0.38, 95%CI -0.75, −0.02) and processing speed (−0.28, 95%CI -0.52, −0.03) in men. There was no association between non-employment and cognitive decline among women.
//
Conclusion:
Long-term non-employment in men, but not women, is associated with accelerated cognitive ageing.
date: 2025-06
date_type: published
publisher: Elsevier BV
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100563
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2344766
doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100563
lyricists_name: Richards, Marcus
lyricists_name: Sacker, Amanda
lyricists_name: Lacey, Rebecca
lyricists_name: Sizer, Alison
lyricists_id: MRICH78
lyricists_id: ASACK12
lyricists_id: RELAC84
lyricists_id: SIZER91
actors_name: Sizer, Alison
actors_id: SIZER91
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Public Health in Practice
volume: 9
article_number: 100563
issn: 2666-5352
citation:        Sizer, AJ;    Sacker, A;    Lacey, RE;    Richards, M;      (2025)    Non-employment over the working life: Implications for cognitive function and decline in later life.                   Public Health in Practice , 9     , Article 100563.  10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100563 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100563>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10202940/1/Sizer_1-s2.0-S2666535224001009-main.pdf