Transition to retirement impact on smoking habit: results from a longitudinal analysis within the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project

BACKGROUND: In an ageing society, retirement impacts on behavioural risk factors and health outcomes should be carefully assessed. Scant evidence exists from longitudinal studies on the short- and long-term consequences of the transition to retirement on smoking habit. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal study based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data from 27 European countries plus Israel collected in 2004–2020. To estimate relative risks (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for smoking status and intensity at seven time periods before and after retirement, we fitted adjusted generalised estimating equation (GEE) models for repeated measures. RESULTS: We selected a cohort of 8998 individuals employed at baseline and retired at follow-up (median follow-up time: 9 years; maximum: 16 years). As compared to the year of retirement, the RR of smoking was 1.59 (95% CI 1.44–1.76) at 10 years or more before retirement, 1.35 (95% CI 1.25–1.46) from 5 to 9 years before retirement, and 1.18 (95% CI 1.10–1.27) from 1 to 4 years before retirement. Smoking steadily decreased after retirement, being 0.94 (95% CI 0.87–1.01) from 1 to 4 years after retirement, 0.76 (95% CI 0.69–0.84) from 5 to 9 years, and 0.58 (95% CI 0.46–0.74) 10 years or more after retirement. In smokers, the estimated number of cigarettes smoked/day decreased from about 27 cigarettes/day at 10 years or more before retirement to 9 cigarettes/day at 10 years or more after retirement (p trend < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Longitudinal data suggest that lifestyles might favourably change with retirement. Further studies are needed to direct healthy ageing promotion policies better. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-023-02397-9.