Our study aimed to enhance understanding of memory decline (MD) in old age by evaluating longitudinal effects of personal and national contributing factors. We used data collected by the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from 12 European countries and Israel. Our sample included 11,930 retirees aged 50+, interviewed at baseline and four years later. MD was evaluated by the change in the number of recalled words from first to second interview. Except for gender, all of our explanatory variables had a significant unique effect on MD – age, education, type of occupation, European geographical region, early retirement, time elapsed from retirement, reason for retirement, active lifestyle, re-employment, health/function status, depressive symptoms, and decline in physical and mental health – over the four years of the study. Our findings indicate that MD can be postponed by national policies such as those which prolong years of education and participation in the workforce, and by social interventions directed to promote active lifestyles in late life, especially in Mediterranean and Eastern European nations.

我们的研究旨在通过评估个人和国家贡献因素的纵向影响来增强对老年记忆衰退（MD）的理解。我们使用了来自欧洲12个欧洲国家和以色列的健康，老龄化和退休调查（SHARE）收集的数据。我们的样本包括11,930名年龄在50岁以上的退休人员，他们在基线和四年后接受了采访。通过从第一次面试到第二次面试的回忆词数的变化来评估MD。除性别外，我们所有的解释变量对MD都有显着的独特影响-年龄，教育程度，职业类型，欧洲地理区域，提前退休，退休后的时间，退休原因，积极的生活方式，重新就业，健康/在四年的研究中，您的身体功能状态，抑郁症状以及身心健康状况下降。