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Review
. 2023 Jan-Dec:60:469580221142477.
doi: 10.1177/00469580221142477.

Functioning Changes in Varying Ways After Retirement: A Scoping Review

Pauliina Saha  1 , Jatta Salmela  2 , Tea Lallukka  2 , Anna Liisa Aho  1
Affiliations
Review

Functioning Changes in Varying Ways After Retirement: A Scoping Review

Pauliina Saha et al. Inquiry. 2023 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

The association between retirement and functioning remains still poorly known. This scoping review examines physical, social, cognitive, and mental functioning after retirement, describes the changes in them, determines the different aspects that affect functioning, and documents the main characteristics of the phenomenon. We systematically scoped the relevant studies on functioning after retirement using CINAHL, MEDLINE, Medic, and PubMed databases. This scoping review included both qualitative and quantitative studies. The studies were analysed with inductive content analysis. After retirement, functioning was found to decline but also improve, and additionally, inequalities in functioning emerged. Functioning after retirement changed in ways which were: declining functioning, improving functioning, and inequalities in functioning. Only a few qualitative studies were found. This scoping review shows that functioning after retirement changes in varying ways. The results show that more qualitative research is needed to help us gain a more profound understanding on, for example, individuals' motives to improve leisure, physical, and social activities after retirement, which are likely to contribute to changes in functioning. Additionally, further longitudinal studies would offer knowledge about the long-term effects of retirement on the different dimensions of functioning.

Keywords: Retirement; aging; functioning; public health; retired; scoping review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart of the literature search. *Keywords: (“International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health” (keyword) OR “Physical Functional Performance” (keyword)). **(Functioning “[Title/Abstract] OR “health function*” [Title/Abstract] OR “physical functioning” [Title/Abstract] OR “psychosocial functioning” [Title/Abstract] OR “social functioning” [Title/Abstract] AND “retire” [Title/Abstract] AND “after” [Title/Abstract]. ***(MH “retirement”) AND (AB after* OR TI after*) AND ((TI (MH “International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health”) OR (MH “Functional Assessment”)) ((AB ((MH “International Classification of Disability and Health”) OR (MH Functional Status) OR (MH “Functional Assessment”) OR (TI functioning* OR AB functioning*).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The changes in functioning after retirement. Source. Elaborated by the authors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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