Impact of the transition to retirement on smoking habit: longitudinal results from SHARE project

BACKGROUND: In an ageing society, the impact of retirement on behavioural risk factors and health status needs to be carefully assessed. There are few longitudinal studies on the short-term and long-term effects of retirement on smoking habits. METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted based on data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) collected between 2004 and 2020 in 27 European countries and Israel. A repeated measure generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was fitted to estimate the relative risks (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of smoking status and its intensity at seven different time periods before and after retirement. RESULTS: We selected a cohort of 8,998 individuals who were employed at baseline and retired during follow-up (median follow-up: 9 years; maximum: 16 years). Compared to the year of retirement, the RR for smoking was 1.59 (95% CI 1.44-1.76) 10 years before retirement and 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 habits decreased steadily after retirement, with a RR of 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 to 0.74) 10 years or more after retirement. For ever-smokers, the estimated daily number of cigarettes smoked 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). CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal data suggest that positive lifestyle changes and adaptations may occur as people reach retirement age. Further research is needed to better guide strategies that promote healthy ageing. KEY MESSAGES: • Our findings indicate that retirement has a positive impact on smoking habits, regardless of geographical and individual sociodemographic factors. • This study is the first to examine the short- and long-term effects of retirement transition on risky behavior among a large European retiree cohort using SHARE data.