scholarly journals Factors Associated with Happiness among Malaysian Elderly

Author(s):  
Shamsul Azhar Shah ◽  
Nazarudin Safian ◽  
Saharuddin Ahmad ◽  
Wan Abdul Hannan Wan Ibadullah ◽  
Zulkefley bin Mohammad ◽  
...  

Happiness is an essential component to experience healthy ageing. Hence, understanding the factors that contribute to happiness is important. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with happiness among the elderly population in Malaysia. In this study, 1204 respondents were recruited from urban and rural areas in Selangor. A face-to-face interview was conducted using the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study questionnaire. The inclusion criteria include Malaysians who are 60-years old and above and can converse in the Malaysian language. Those who encounter less than seven scores for the Abbreviated Mental Test were excluded from the study. Among the 1204 respondents, 953 (79.2%) were happy. Sociodemographic characteristics showed that being a men, age of 60 to 74 years, and living in urban areas were significantly associated with happiness. A logistic regression model showed that locality (aOR 1.61), income category (Bottom 40% aOR 0.49; Middle-class group 40% aOR 1.40), social engagement (active aOR 1.77; less active aOR 1.25), receiving emotional support (aOR 2.11) and handgrip strength (aOR 1.02) were significantly associated with happiness. Thus, ensuring the elderly population in receiving emotional support and active social engagement among them can enhance their happiness level.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamsul Azhar Shah ◽  
Nazarudin Safian ◽  
Saharuddin Ahmad ◽  
Wan Abdul Hannan Wan Ibadullah ◽  
Zulkefley Mohammad ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Happiness is an essential component for experience healthy ageing. Hence, understanding the factors that contribute to happiness is essential for a better quality of life. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with happiness among the elderly population in Malaysia.Methods: In this study, 1204 respondents were recruited from urban and rural areas in Selangor. The face-to-face interview was conducted using the Bahasa Malaysian version of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study questionnaire. The inclusion criteria include Malaysians who are 60 years old and above and can converse in the Malaysian language. Those who encounter less than seven scores for the Abbreviated Mental Test were excluded from the study.Result: Among the 1204 respondents, 953 (79.2%) of them were happy. In terms of sociodemographic characteristics, men who were happy, 60 to 74 years old and live in urban areas were significantly associated with happiness. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the significant factors associated with happiness among the elderly include the social support they receive, both emotional support (adjusted OR 2.33) and instrumental support (adjusted OR 1.59); the locality they reside in (adjusted OR 1.65); how they self-rated themselves in terms of their health status (adjusted OR 1.58); their educational level (adjusted OR 4.20) and their household income (adjusted OR 0.77).Conclusion: Thus, ensuring the elderly population in receiving emotional and instrumental support can enhance their happiness level.


Author(s):  
Chensong Lin ◽  
Longfeng Wu

Many empirical studies have shown evidence of multiple health benefits provided by green and blue spaces. Despite the importance of these spaces, investigations are scarce in details for blue spaces rather than green. Moreover, most research has focused on developed regions. A limited number of studies on blue spaces can be found in China with a focus on the city level. Outcomes have been mixed due to varying research scales, methodologies, and definitions. This study relies on a national-level social survey to explore how the self-rated health (SRH) of senior individuals is associated with local green and blue space availability in urban and rural areas. Results indicate that the coverage ratio of overall green spaces and waterbodies around a resident’s home have marginal effects on SRH status in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, living close to a park can is marginally beneficial for older people’s health. Regarding different types of blue spaces, the presence of a major river (within 0.3–0.5 km) or coastline (within 1 km and 1–5 km) in the vicinity of home negatively affects SRH among the elderly in urban areas. Close proximity to lakes and other types of waterbodies with a water surface larger than 6.25 ha did not significantly influence SRH. These findings not only evaluate general health impacts of green/blue space development on senior populations across the county but inform decision makers concerning the health-promoting qualities and features of different green/blue spaces to better accommodate an aging population in the era of urbanization.


2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155-1167
Author(s):  
Pavle Radanov ◽  
Ivana Lešević ◽  
Pavle Brzaković ◽  
Dragan Pajić

In the Republic of Serbia, on March 15 th , 2020 Government decided to declare a state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the measures was a movement ban for people over 65 in urban areas and those over 70 in rural areas. This research should indicate how people over 65 in urban areas have endured this situation, especially in relation to the same population in rural areas, as well as implications of the movement ban on the quality of life of the elderly population. Special importance is given to the rural population engaged in agriculture. A tool of data collection in this research was anonymous survey. Respondents' answers were statistically processed, which led to clear conclusions about the large negative consequences for the elderly population, including the agricultural activities in rural areas. Covid-19 is still present, which opens further questions related to the quality of life of the elderly population, if necessity for similar measures recurs in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. e51421
Author(s):  
Roberta Dayanny Soares ◽  
Aíla Maropô Araújo

Population aging in Brazil increases on a large scale due to declining fertility and mortality. This phenomenon can be influenced by several factors (demographic, biological and social), making them determinants for the health conditions of the elderly populations residing in different geographic areas. The present study aims to identify the functional limitation in elderly residents of urban and rural areas of Brazil. This is a descriptive epidemiological study with a quantitative approach. It was evidenced that the functional limitation for activities of daily living   and instrumental activities of daily living are concentrated in the northeast region, mainly in the urban area. The following states presented the highest proportions of daily life activity limitation in urban areas: Alagoas (11.60%), Rio Grande do Norte (10.95%), Pernambuco (10.36%) and Paraíba (9.62%). For activities of daily living in the rural area were found in the states of Paraíba (12.19%), Maranhão (8.93%), Piauí (8.85%) and then Pernambuco (7.24%). Data from the functional limitation for instrumental activities of daily living again highlighted the Northeast region, with the states of Rio Grande do Norte (26.01%), Paraíba (25.96%), Maranhão (25.72%) and Alagoas (24.57%). Lastly, it was verified that the elderly woman exhibits greater proportions of functional limitation in relation to the elderly of the masculine sex, standing out again the northeastern region of the country.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liangwen Zhang ◽  
Sijia Fu ◽  
Ya Fang

An aging population and an increase in the proportion of elderly people who are disabled have created an unprecedented global challenge, especially in China. This study aimed to predict the number of, and the care costs for, disabled elderly from 2020 to 2050 in China. A comparison was made between urban and rural areas, and we analyzed what must be done to maintain the sustainable development of China’s long-term care insurance (LTCI) system. An overall simulation model and a Monte Carlo simulation were used to estimate the number of disabled elderly and their related care costs, in both urban and rural areas. According to the forecast, the total disabled population will increase rapidly, rising from 43.75 million in 2020 to 91.4 million in 2050. Of that total, 69.7% are expected to be urban elderly. Starting in 2020, the growth rates of the elderly with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities will be 108%, 104%, and 120%, respectively, by 2050. Accordingly, the total care costs will increase from 538.0 billion yuan in 2020 to 8530.8 billion yuan in 2050, of which 80.2% will be required in urban areas. In addition, the per capita costs of care in urban and rural areas in 2050 will be 6 times and 11 times higher than in 2020, respectively. The predicted results show that the number of disabled elderly and the related care costs will increase sharply from 2020 to 2050, especially the growth rate of the number of severely disabled elderly. This study provides strong evidence of the need for the establishment of a unified national LTCI system in China.


Author(s):  
Jin Liu ◽  
Scott Rozelle ◽  
Qing Xu ◽  
Ning Yu ◽  
Tianshu Zhou

This study examines the impact of social engagement on elderly health in China. A two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI) regression approach was used to examine the causal relationship. Our dataset comprises 9253 people aged 60 or above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) conducted in 2011 and 2013. Social engagement significantly improved the self-rated health of the elderly and reduced mental distress, but had no effect on chronic disease status. Compared with the rural areas, social engagement played a more important role in promoting the elderly health status in urban areas. Social engagement could affect the health status of the elderly through health behavior change and access to health resources. To improve the health of the elderly in China and promote healthy aging, the government should not only improve access to effective medical care but also encourage greater social engagement of the elderly.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (02) ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAIDATULAKMAL MOHD ◽  
AZLINDA AZMAN ◽  
JAMALLUDIN SULAIMAN ◽  
ISMAIL BABA

This study determines and compares the influence of various demographic factors in achieving well-being of the elderly population in the rural and urban areas in Indonesia. Age, marital status, social class, perceived health and economic condition are some of the main contributing factors in measuring well-being. In addition, social aspects such as living and familial arrangement were also investigated to establish elderly population well being. Data were collected using a survey-interview method. A total of 157 elderly in the urban areas and 145 elderly in the rural areas were surveyed. A causal model of well-being was employed to analyse the data obtained. The model of well-being was then tested using path analysis to test the causal relationships among the variables. Although the study indicated that there was no significant difference of well-being between the rural and urban elderly, the social support variables generally help improve the well-being of the elderly population.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1462-1472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Desormais ◽  
Victor Aboyans ◽  
Maëlenn Guerchet ◽  
Bébène Ndamba-Bandzouzi ◽  
Pascal Mbelesso ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0247975
Author(s):  
Ana M. Palacios ◽  
Jeanne H. Freeland-Graves ◽  
Sherlie Jean-Louis Dulience ◽  
Jacques Raymond Delnatus ◽  
Lora L. Iannotti

Background In Haiti, differences in the prevalence of anemia between urban and rural areas have been observed. Objective To identify moderating factors that may help explain the difference in the prevalence of anemia in children from poor urban vs. rural areas of Haiti. Methods This cross-sectional study used secondary data from urban and rural school-based trials that assessed the effectiveness of a nutrition intervention. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT02747524. A total of 300 rural- and 981 urban- children between 2.5–13 years of age were included in this analysis. Effect modification in a binary logistic generalized linear mixed model was conducted using sample weights in SPSS® version 26. Models were adjusted for age and income. School cluster was included as random effect. Results In rural areas, stunting was more prevalent in children with anemia vs. no anemia, (16.6%, and 6.3%, P = 0.008), respectively. Also, rural children with anemia lived with fewer adults vs. rural children with no anemia, (x¯ = 2.83±1.29, and 3.30±1.54, P = 0.005), respectively. In poor urban areas, helminth morbidities were more frequent in children with anemia vs. no anemia, (21.9% vs. 13.9, P = 0.011), respectively. In the combined sample, stunting, [AOR = 2.05; 95%CI (1.32–3.18)], age [AOR = 0.89; 95%CI (0.85–0.93)], and households with more adults [AOR = 0.77; 95%CI (0.67–0.87)] were associated with anemia. Effect modification by place of residence was observed in households with more adults (t = 3.83, P<0.001). No other nutritional, dietary, sanitation or morbidity factors or effect modifiers were observed. Conclusions In this sample, factors associated with anemia differed in poor urban and rural children from Haiti including family structure and helminth morbidities. Stunting and lower age increased the odds of anemia in the combined sample. Family structure appears to have an important role in anemia, and further research understanding the influence of family structures in anemia is needed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tunjung Sri Yulianti ◽  
Anggit Ike Prascika

AbstractElderly will fail maintaining a balance of physiological conditions, thereby increasingvulnerability to depression. Factors that influence is the socio-economic changes, socialvalues, awareness among individuals and others. More urban environment isindividualistic and socioeconomic pressures are higher, while rural areas have theeducational background lower. The results showed not a few elderly people who returnedto the village because they felt pressured by the situation in the city, the elderly should bealone in the house and no neighbors who could be invited to communicate, so it isdifficult to be happy. But there are also elderly who live in the village reveal feelingdepressed and showed signs of depression. Purpose of the study to determine the levelof depression in the elderly in urban, rural and differences in the level of depressionamong the elderly who live in rural and urban areas.Subjects were elderly who live in the village of Palur Sukoharjo and Kampung SewuSurakarta. Methods of analytical study comparative research design. Measuringinstrument used is the Geriatric Depression Scale. Test data normality using theKolmogorov-Smirnov Test. Statistical test with independent t test.The results of the study obtained significancy value of t-test (two-tailed) 0.001.Conclusion of research is significant difference in rates of depression among the elderlyin urban and rural areas, the elderly in urban areas have higher levels of depression thanelderly people in rural areasKeywords: Elderly Depression Level, Rural, Urban


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