Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline in older people. This was reported by the press service of New York Binghamton University.
The study was carried out on Chinese material. China has recently introduced the NRPS pension program in some rural areas of the country. Due to social changes in Chinese society, children had to be introduced as they could no longer help their elderly parents. Researchers received data from the Chinese government on the progress of the pension program. In addition, they were given access to survey data examining in detail the behavior and socio-economic characteristics of the participants in the new pension program.
It turned out that NRPS had significant adverse effects on the cognitive functions of older people. The most important indicator of cognitive decline was delayed recall, a measure widely used in neuroscience research as a key indicator of dementia. The retirement program had a more negative impact on women than on men. Scientists believe the results support the hypothesis that reduced mental activity leads to cognitive impairment.
Significant retirement benefits and early retirement lead to improved health, but have a negative impact on other aspects of life, especially social activities.
“NRPS participants report significantly lower levels of social participation, less volunteering, and less social interaction than non-participants. We found that increased social isolation was strongly associated with faster cognitive decline in older adults. Interestingly, the retirement program had some health benefits. In general, the negative effects of early retirement on mental and social participation far outweigh the positive health effects.On average, NRPS practice resulted in a decrease of about 1/5 in cognitive performance.
Some experts criticize this approach to research. In their view, the conditions of natural experiments are uncontrollable and therefore there is no guarantee that other factors do not influence the difference in cognitive health.