Mental Well-Being and the Quality of Life Among Retired Public and Private Sector Employees: A Comparative Study From Kerala, India

Background Retirement from an active working environment is one of the important risk factors for mental health problems. The literature on the mental well-being and quality of life among retired public and private sector employees in Kerala is limited. We conducted this study to compare the mental well-being, quality of life and factors associated with them among retired public and private sector employees in Kollam district, Kerala. Methods This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 retired employees (mean age 69.5 years, Men 172 (53.8%), public sector employees 160 (50%)) selected using multistage cluster sampling. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) and WHO QoL BREF questionnaire were used for data collection. Multivariate analyses were used to find out the factors associated with mental well-being and quality of life. Results Among the retired private employees, 94 (58.75%) and those from the public sector three (1.88%) reported low mental well-being (Adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) =21.28, 95% CI: 6.34-71.36, p=<0.001). Participants aged > 68 years (APR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.03-1.79, p=0.026) and rural residents (APR= 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09-1.97, p=0.016) reported lower mental well-being compared to their counterparts. Retired public sector employees' quality of life was higher (Adjusted Mean Difference (AMD) =18.67, 95% CI: 15.48-21.86, p=<0.001) compared to retired private sector employees. Participants aged <= 68 years (AMD=7.01, 95% CI: 4.49-9.52, p=<0.001), male gender (AMD=4.25, 95% CI: 1.68-6.81, p=0.001), rural residents (AMD= 2.6, 95% CI: 0.08-5.13, p=0.043) and belonging to above poverty line (AMD=8.12, 95% CI: 4.08-12.16, p=<0.001) had higher QoL scores. Conclusion Efforts are required to improve retirement policies that support the mental health and quality of life of retired private sector employees.