Factors associated with happiness in the elderly persons living in the community.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate factors associated with happiness in a sample of Brazilian older adults.

METHODS: A study was conducted with 263 elderly people in the area of coverage of a family health unit located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The Subjective Happiness Scale was used to measure happiness, the final score of which determined one of three outcomes: not happy, intermediate, and happy. Disability, sociodemographic characteristics, and psychological, cognitive, and physical factors were considered for the multinomial logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found among the three groups regarding satisfaction with life, disability, social phobia, anxiety, depression, and frailty (p≤0.05). In the multinomial regression analysis, being "not happy" was significantly associated with satisfaction with life (RRR: 0.53), depression (RRR: 1.46), social phobia (RRR: 1.24), and age (RRR: 1.06).

CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate that psychological factors and age influence the levels of happiness in older adults living in the community. Furthermore, better screening, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health disorders could increase the feeling of happiness among older adults.