Background: Retirement is a major life change that is likely to affect lifestyles. The aim of this study was toexamine changes in leisure-time physical activity of moderate and vigorous intensity among ageing employeesfacing transition to retirement over a follow-up of 5-7 years.
Results: Old-age retirees increased significantly their time spent in moderate-intensity physical activity: women 31minutes per week and men 42 minutes per week on average. Such changes were not found among disabilityretirees or those remaining employed. There were no changes in vigorous activity. Leisure-time physical inactivityat follow-up was lower among old-age retirees compared with employees of nearly the same age. Adjustmentsmade for potential baseline covariates had no effects on these findings.
Conclusions: Transition to old-age retirement was associated with an increase in moderate-intensity leisure-timephysical activity and a decrease in the proportion of inactive. Encouraging people to leisure-time physical activityafter retirement is worthwhile as the increase in free time brings new possibilities for it.