Introduction: Demographic changes emphasise
the importance of healthy aging
during the working life. This study, which
focuses on associations of age and health in
the context of the working life, analyses several
health indicators on the basis of the BIBB/
BAuA employment survey 2006. The subjectively
assessed health status, the prevalence
of reported work-related health impairments,
the frequency of their treatment by a doctor
or therapist and the number of sick-leave
days of employees were analysed by age,
gender and occupational status.
Methods: 20,000 economically active persons
(51.6 % men, mean age: 41.3 years) were
surveyed by telephone with regard to psychosocial
and health aspects. In this study, chisquare
tests were conducted to investigate
whether the subjectively assessed health
status, the prevalence of work-related impairments
and their treatment by a doctor or therapist
differed systematically with regard to age,
gender and occupational status. The number
of sick-leave days was analysed by age and
gender and by gender and professional status
in the context of a general linear model.
Results: We observed decreases in all four
health indicators with increasing age. This
trend did not continue for subjects older than
60 years. Women overall reported a worse
general health status, more impairments and
their treatment than men, although there
was no difference in the number of reported
sick-leave days. In the analysis by professional
status, workers reported more impairments
than persons in the other groups.
Conclusions: General health decreases with
increasing age, but this trend did not continue
in a linear way from the age of 60. One
interpretation for this would be the healthy
worker effect. Older persons, women and
workers reported more health impairments
and thus constitute the main target groups
for possible prevention measures.
