2003). It is hypothesized #see more randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# that the decrease of work capacity of the ageing worker

will result in increasing need for recovery levels if the workload remains the same. As such need for recovery might be considered an instrument to assess potential imbalance between demands of work and the functional capacities of the ageing worker. So far, only few studies have reported on the association between age and need for recovery. Sluiter et al. (Sluiter et al. 2001) observed that age was not significant in the prediction of need for recovery. A study by Jansen et al. (2002) showed that employees aged 46–55 scored somewhat higher on need for recovery compared to employees aged 36–45. Kiss et al. (2008) observed significantly higher mean recovery scores in older workers (≥45 years) when compared to younger workers (<45 years). Whereas cross-sectional studies gain insight into the magnitude of the problem at a specific point in time, and may reveal associations between work demands, age and need for recovery, longitudinal studies are necessary

to investigate the net-effect of age on need for recovery. To date, we are not aware of studies investigating the longitudinal relationship between age (categories) and need for recovery from work. When studying the relationship between age and need for recovery over time various factors should be taken into account, such as demographics, work environment, IWR 1 health, lifestyle and characteristics of the private situation. Some studies have found gender differences in the need for recovery, with men reporting higher levels of need for recovery when compared to women (Jansen et al. 2002). Also differences in need for recovery are observed when comparing different educational levels, with employees with a lower educational level reporting higher need for recovery scores (Jansen et al. 2002). High psychological job demands, low decision latitude, physically demanding work and work–family conflict have been found to be associated with elevated need for

recovery (Jansen et al. 2002, 2003a; Eriksen et al. 2006). Need for recovery further substantially varies when different working hours, patterns or schedules are considered (Jansen et al. SPTLC1 2003b; De Raeve et al. 2007). Therefore, in this study, need for recovery will be studied in day workers exclusively. The aim of the present prospective study was to investigate whether increasing age is related to higher need for recovery from work over time, while taking into account demographic, work-related factors and characteristics of the private situation. Methods Sampling and procedures The present study is based on data of the first six questionnaires of the Maastricht Cohort Study on “Fatigue at Work” (Kant et al. 2003), that is, a total follow-up of 2 years. Employees were followed by means of self-administered questionnaires, which they received every 4 months.