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. 2022;47(1):55-71.
doi: 10.1007/s12126-020-09404-8. Epub 2021 Jan 8.

Older Workers with Physically Demanding Jobs and their Cognitive Functioning

Eunhee Choi  1 , Sung-Geun Kim  2 , Laura B Zahodne  3 , Steven M Albert  4
Affiliations

Older Workers with Physically Demanding Jobs and their Cognitive Functioning

Eunhee Choi et al. Ageing Int. 2022.

Abstract

Although employment can provide older people with both financial and nonfinancial rewards, it is questionable whether those benefits extend to all older workers, particularly those with physically demanding jobs. This study aimed to examine whether the perceived level of physical demands placed on older workers 55 or older is significantly associated with their cognitive function. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2010 wave, we analyzed two domains of cognition: verbal episodic memory and reasoning. After controlling for demographics and risk factors for age-related cognitive deterioration, the perceived level of physical demands placed on older workers was still significantly and negatively linked with both memory and reasoning domains of cognition. Older workers with more physically demanding jobs tended to have poorer cognitive function. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this relationship.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12126-020-09404-8.

Keywords: Cognitive function; Employment; Older workers; Physically demanding jobs; Productive aging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestEunhee Choi, Sung-geun Kim, Laura Zahodne, and Steven Albert declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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