What this means
Intensive research on determinants of healthy ageing among workers has produced a large body of recommendations for companies. , between economic sectors.
A plain-English summary is on its way. Until then, this is the start of the authors' own summary.
- Who it was tested in
- People
- Kind of research
- A study
The science
- Original title
- Measures to Promote Healthy Ageing for Elder Workers: How Common Are They in Italy and Who Benefits From Them?
- Authors
- Dragano N, Höhmann A, Sciutti A et al.
- Journal
- La Medicina del lavoro
- Published
- Oct 24, 2026
- Study type
- Study · in humans
- PMID
- 42925044 ↗
Abstract
Background
Intensive research on determinants of healthy ageing among workers has produced a large body of recommendations for companies. However, little is known about the extent of implementation of the respective measures and about inequalities in their availability, e.g., between economic sectors. We investigated the prevalence of such measures in a large sample of older employees in Italy and examined associations with work ability.
What they did
Participants (employed, aged 50-65 years) were recruited from an existing panel. The 3,741 eligible participants completed a questionnaire that included items assessing the availability of measures to promote healthy ageing, sociodemographic, employment characteristics, and the Work Ability Index (WAI). Measures were grouped into thematic scales, and Poisson regression models were used to estimate adjusted predicted means (age, sex). Associations between measures and WAI were tested using multivariable linear regression.
What they found
The implementation of measures was generally low. The mean number of available measures was 5 out of 20, with most measures (e.g., the opportunity to reduce working hours) reported by fewer than one in five employees. Availability differed by sex, income level, economic sector, company size, and type of contract. Availability of measures was associated with a better WAI in fully adjusted models (β = 0.107; 95% confidence interval: 0.058-0.157). The findings suggest that there is still room for improvement in implementing measures to promote healthy ageing in the workplace. To achieve this, particular attention should be paid to disadvantaged segments of the workforce.
The authors' abstract, grouped under plain headings from its own section labels.
Dragano N, Höhmann A, Sciutti A et al. Measures to Promote Healthy Ageing for Elder Workers: How Common Are They in Italy and Who Benefits From Them?. La Medicina del lavoro. 2026. doi:10.23749/mdl.2026.19319. PMID: 42925044. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42925044/