Purpose To investigate the difference of IHR (ill-health retirement) across occupational groups and to identify work-related factors in Korea

Methods Data were collected from a sample from the first to fourth phases of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) which conducted in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. IHR were defined as those who retired due to their health problems before their scheduled or regular retirement age in one of the follow-up surveys. Three broad subdomains of working conditions were examined, namely work arrangements, physical working conditions and psychosocial working conditions. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the effects of working condition characteristics on IHR for each gender, after adjusting for age, household income and property.

Results Female, older, manual workers, and day labourer were more likely to experience IHR. In adjusted Cox proportional hazard models, risk for IHR of male workers was significantly higher among those with the following conditions: high physical demanding (HR=1.84), awkward posture (HR=1.76), dissatisfaction about working environment (HR=1.73), and no industrial compensation insurance (HR=1.79) nor retirement benefits (HR=1.80). However no significant association found among female subjects.

Conclusions Occupational class, physical and psychological working conditions, and work arrangement are potential risk factors for IHR among male workers in Korea. Moreover, our results revealed gender differences in the risk of IHR. Further and more specific studies are needed to identify which additional factors determine IHR according to different occupation and different disease groups.