There were no major changes in the functional status of older working-aged Europeans in 2004–2022, a recent study finds. Among both women and men, the unemployed have more functional limitations than the employed. Surprisingly, the likelihood of functional limitations decreased in all labour market groups during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this was most evident in countries where COVID-19 related restrictions were moderate.
Functional limitations of European women and men aged 55–69 were investigated in a study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland and Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Analyses were also conducted according to labour market group for the employed, the unemployed, the retired, the disabled, and for homemakers.
Between the years 2004 and 2022, functional limitations slightly increased among men. No change was detected among women.
“Functional limitations are linked to work ability. When aiming to extend working careers, it is important to know where we are going with these in different population groups,” notes researcher Inna Lisko from the University of Eastern Finland.
Comparisons between labour market groups revealed that compared to the employed, functional limitations were 60 percent more likely for unemployed women, and 88 percent more likely for unemployed men.
“The observation of the unemployed having, on average, more functional limitations than the employed is not a new one. However, I think that more attention should be paid to this regarding the services offered to the unemployed, and also from the perspective of prevention,” says Lisko.
A novel finding in the study was that the likelihood of functional limitations decreased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In countries where the COVID-19 related restrictions were moderate, the decreases were statistically significant in all labour market groups.
“This was a very surprising finding. Many studies examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic show that the pandemic had negative health consequences, and that physical activity mainly decreased. However, there was variation in different population groups and in different phases of the pandemic,” Lisko says.
This finding suggests that 55–69-year-old Europeans made positive lifestyle changes during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, during the second year of the pandemic, the changes in functional limitations mainly reverted, although not statistically significantly in many places.
The observation may also be influenced by the index used for functional limitations in the study, the Global Activity Limitation Index (GALI), as it asks about health problems in activities people usually do. In the study, the researchers discuss that due to the COVID-19 related restrictions, the activities people usually do may have become on average physically less demanding.
“The finding related to the COVID-19 pandemic requires further investigation. Unfortunately, we did not have another suitable measure for physical functioning, or a measure for physical activity at the most interesting point of the study, i.e., a year after the start of the pandemic,” Lisko says.
Data from a large longitudinal study, Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), was used in the study. The data included ca. 245,000 observations collected in nine different measurement waves during the years 2004–2022.
The study is part of the Functional Ability, Rehabilitation and Income Transfers of the Aging Population in 2017–2021project (Ikäkyky), conducted by Laurea University of Applied Sciences in 2023–2024.
Research article:
Inna K Lisko, Olli Kurkela, Annele Urtamo, Jenni K Kulmala, Leena P Forma, Functional limitations in 2004–22 among Europeans aged 55–69 years: time trends according to labor market group and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, European Journal of Public Health, 2025;, ckaf054, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaf054
