Health risks and benefits of extended working life (HEAF)

Cohort study of 8,000 adults aged 50-64 years who were recruited from GP practices across England that are part of the Clinical Practice Research Database (CPRD). At baseline, people agreed to complete questionnaires about their work and health, and determinants of these, annually for 3 years and gave permission for their responses to be linked to their anonymised records in CPRD so that we have relatively low-cost access to information about diagnoses, consultations in primary and secondary care and medications prescribed. Data collection is on-going and will run initially until 2018.

<p>The need to keep Britain’s ageing population economically active has prompted government policies aimed at extending working lives. However, working beyond the traditional retirement age may not be feasible for those with major health problems of ageing, and depending on occupational and personal circumstances (e.g. savings, retirement intentions, domestic responsibilities, whether work is arduous, rewarding), might be either good or bad for health.
We will recruit 8,000 50-64 year-olds from 24 practices contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD, formerly GPRD). Participants will complete questionnaires about their work and home circumstances, initially over a 3-year follow-up, and with their permission, we will access their health data via the CPRD. The inter-relation of changes in employment (with reasons) and changes in health (e.g. major new illnesses, new treatments, mortality) will be examined.
CPRD linkage offers major advantages, notably cost-effective capture of frequent, detailed, objective health data. We will be able to examine the impact of health on work at older ages (e.g. how often arthritis suffers have to quit work) and of work on health (e.g. whether mental health is helped or worsened by deferring retirement, and in what circumstances). Findings should inform government policy and improve the design of work for older people.</p>