Health and happiness among older adults: a community-based study
Angner, Erik ; Ray, Midge N. ; Saag, Kenneth G. ; Allison, Jeroan J.
Citations
Student Authors
Faculty Advisor
Academic Program
UMass Chan Affiliations
Document Type
Publication Date
Keywords
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Alabama
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
*Attitude to Health
Chronic Disease
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
*Geriatric Assessment
*Happiness
Health Surveys
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pain
Poverty
Primary Health Care
Urinary Incontinence
Bioinformatics
Biostatistics
Epidemiology
Health Services Research
Subject Area
Embargo Expiration Date
Link to Full Text
Abstract
The relationship between health and happiness was explored using a cross-sectional survey of 383 community-dwelling older adults. As a function of self-reported health, median happiness was increasing at a decreasing rate; happiness variability was decreasing at a decreasing rate. In multivariable logistic regression, lowest-quartile happiness was associated with poverty, unfavorable subjective health, debilitating pain and urinary incontinence, but not with the comorbidity count or other comorbidities. The results, robust to common method bias, suggest that subjective health measures are better predictors of happiness than objective measures are, except for conditions that disrupt daily functioning or are associated with social stigma.
Source
J Health Psychol. 2009 May;14(4):503-12. Link to article on publisher's site