Using a representative sample of community-residing elderly in Massachusetts above the age of 65, this study indicates that people who experience a deterioration in their health are more likely to stop working than those who do not experience such an adverse event. Depending on the health measure used, the odds of stopping work due to poorer health range from 2.11:1 to 3.93:1. A decline in health was also a better predictor of working or not working than were the sociodemographic variables included in this analysis.
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