Determinants of happiness and life satisfaction in elderly Zimbabweans.

OBJECTIVE: To assess determinants of happiness and life satisfaction in elderly Zimbabweans.

DESIGN: Community based cross sectional survey.

SETTING: Randomly selected villages and two urban areas in north eastern Zimbabwe.

SUBJECTS: 278 subjects aged 60 to 92 years (124 male, 154 female).

METHOD: One subject per randomly selected household was interviewed, at home, by a trained interviewer to complete a questionnaire.

RESULTS: Independent determinants of happiness were: rural residence, whether children gave material support and satisfaction with financial circumstances. [Adjusted odds ratios and confidence intervals 0.25 (0.13 to 0.49), 0.45 (0.22 to 0.94) and 0.11 (0.01 to 0.87) respectively]. Independent determinants of life satisfaction were: feeling better off than their neighbours, receiving adequate respect from their children and satisfaction with financial circumstances. [Adjusted odds ratios and confidence intervals 0.73 (0.59 to 0.91), 0.13 (0.03 to 0.59) and 0.24 (0.1 to 0.61) respectively].

CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that, despite physical hardship, the majority of Zimbabwean elders are happy and 50% are satisfied with their lives and we have identified independent determinants of happiness and life satisfaction in this group. Characterization of these determinants allows us to predict that social changes such as rural/urban migration, declining family support and diminishing respect from children will have a negative effect on happiness and life satisfaction in our elders. It is important that, when planning intervention programmes for the elderly, these facets of wellbeing are not neglected.