COMMENTARY
Public health
The effect of high physical load at work on physical function at old age
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr A Burdorf
Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, Netherlands; a.burdorf@erasmusmc.nl
Commentary on the paper by Russo et al (see page 438)
Keywords: ageing; physical functioning; physical load
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
There is ample evidence of large socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity and mortality in Western Europe. In most countries these socioeconomic inequalities in health seem quite persistent, and people with lower education, social class, or income more often suffer from ill health and die at a younger age.1 Since most morbidity and mortality happen at older age, the determinants of health among frail elderly people are increasingly studied. There is much debate as to the relative contribution of different lifestyle factors, such as smoking and leisure time physical activity. It is well documented that lack of leisure time physical activity is a powerful predictor for functional limitations, disability, and mortality at older age, most likely through its beneficial effects on physical fitness.2,3 Given these strong associations, it comes as a surprise that little is known about the effects of physical activity at work on morbidity and mortality after retirement.
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Relevant Article
- Lifetime occupation and physical function: a prospective cohort study on persons aged 80 years and older living in a community
- A Russo, G Onder, M Cesari, V Zamboni, C Barillaro, E Capoluongo, M Pahor, R Bernabei, F Landi
Occup. Environ. Med. 2006 63: 438-442.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
