Table 2 The key study characteristics of included studies

[33]

Brown and Vickerstaff 2011

UK

Individuals approaching or entering retirement in the UK

Qualitative

n = 96 aged 50–65 year old (apart from 7 respondents slightly above or below the age brackets)

[42]

De Preter, van Looy and Mortelmans 2013

Austria, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and macro data derived from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat

Quantitative-longitudinal

Total sample at t2 was n = 5,127 respondents, resulting in 440 retirement events. There were n = 2,582 men and n = 2,545 women in the sample

[40]

Hofaecker et al. 2016

Germany, UK (and Japan)

Survey of Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE), English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and the Japanese Study of Health, Ageing and Retirement (JSTAR)

Quantitative-longitudinal

n = 5,172 English respondents aged 50 and over at t2 (n = 2,617 men, n = 2,555 women)

n = 1,549 German respondents aged 50 and over at t2 (n = 909 men, n = 640 women)

n = 892 Japanese older respondents at t2 (n = 468 men, n = 424 women)

[38]

Larsen 2008

Denmark

Danish survey of elderly individuals consisting of two waves from 1997 and 2002

Quantitative-longitudinal

n = 1,579 wage earners aged 52–57 years old at t2

[30]

Loretto and White 2006

UK

Workers from finance, education, local government, hospitality, caring services, professional occupations and the private sector were represented

Qualitative

Employees aged 50 and over n = 33, n = 19 men and n = 14 women participated across the four focus groups

[39]

Micheel, Roloff and Wickenheiser 2011

Germany

The data basis was constituted from the study ‘Continuing in employment in pensionable age’

Quantitative-cross sectional

n = 1,500 aged 55 to under 65 years old. This excluded self-employed individuals or those who were unemployed

[29]

Nicolaisen, Thorsen and Eriksen 2012

Norway

Drawn from the Norwegian Life Course, Aging and Generation (NorLAG) study

Quantitative-cross sectional

Workers aged 40–61 years (thinking about retirement) n = 2,339

[32]

Porcellato et al. 2010

UK

Individuals residing the North West of England

Qualitative

Age range 50–68 years old. Total sample was n = 56, of which n = 22 were in paid work (n = 31 males, n = 25 females)

[41]

Radl 2013

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

SHARE survey data, which targets the European population

Quantitative-longitudinal

Aged over 50 years living in residential households and their partners. At t2 the total sample n = 12,154 (ranged from n = 407 Switzerland to n = 1,749 Sweden). Participants already retired n = 7,527 and still in work n = 4,627

[34]

Reeuwijk et al. 2013

The Netherlands

Participants were selected from the Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation (STREAM).

Qualitative

n = 30 employees aged 58–64 years

[31]

Rice et al. 2011

UK

English Longitudinal Survey on Ageing (ELSA)

Quantitative-longitudinal

Individuals aged 50 years and over at baseline and at retirement age (age 60 years for women, 65 years for men) at 4-year follow-up, living in private households in England n = 1,693 at t2

[28]

Solem et al. 2016

Norway

Norwegian Study on Life Course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG)

Quantitative-longitudinal

n = 2,401 employed workers aged 40–79 years. n = 605 were 57 years old and over at t2

[36]

Thorsen et al. 2012

Denmark

Danish National working Environment Survey (DANES)

Quantitative-cross sectional

Total sample n = 3,122 aged 50 years and over.

[37]

Tüchsen et al. 2008

Denmark

Danish Work Environment Cohort Study (DWECS)

Quantitative-longitudinal

Employees aged 18–59 years females n = 3,980, males n = 4,025 at t3

[35]

van Solinge and Henkens 2014

The Netherlands

Older employees residing in The Netherlands

Quantitative-longitudinal

n = 1,458 older workers at t2 aged 50–59 years old at baseline.