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Occupational Medicine Advance Access published online on August 10, 2009
Occupational Medicine, doi:10.1093/occmed/kqp113
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Predictors of the discrepancy between calendar and biological age

Gabriele Freude1, Olga Jakob2, Peter Martus2, Uwe Rose1 and Reingart Seibt3

1 Department of Mental Health and Cognitive Capacity, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Berlin, Germany
2 Institute for Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charite, Berlin, Germany
3 Institute and Clinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany

Background The rate of ageing can differ considerably between individuals. This might result in major differences between calendar age (CA) and biological age (BA).

Aims To identify work- and health-related predictors of the discrepancy between CA and BA.

Methods The sample analysed in this study consisted of 371 subjects of different occupational groups (teachers, office workers, nursery school teachers and managers). BA was measured with the vitality measuring station, which recorded 45 vitality indicators of physical, mental and social functions.

Work ability index, effort–reward imbalance and relaxation inability were measured to determine work- and health-related predictors.

Results The greatest discrepancy between CA and BA (9 years) was found for the subgroup of managers, followed by female teachers (5 years). Managers showed also the best results in work ability, the effort–reward balance and relaxation ability.

By means of multiple regression analysis, particularly mental attitudes and resources towards work, occupational reward and the body fat percentage were identified as relevant predictors for the discrepancy between CA and BA.

Conclusions Our study indicates that not only health- but also work-related factors are associated with vitality and BA of employees. We assume that measures focused on promoting of health (healthy diet and physical activities) and improving working conditions (e.g. job satisfaction and social support and stress prevention) may also affect the ageing process positively.

Keywords      Biological age; calendar age; health- and work-related predictors; vitality; work ability

Correspondence to: G. Freude, Department of Mental Health and Cognitive Capacity, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Berlin, Germany. e-mail: freude.gabriele{at}baua.bund.de


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