en Aging پژوهشي Research Article <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Background:</span>&nbsp;Happiness is one of the indicators of mental health that originates from the cognitive and emotional assessment of individuals from their lives. Happiness is believed to evolve from the comparison of the current circumstances related to achievement. However, gerontological literature has been limited to happiness in the elderly.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Objectives:</span>&nbsp;The aim of this study was to determine happiness status and examine the relationship between happiness and some variables among Iranian elderly.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Methods:</span>&nbsp;This cross-sectional study was carried out on 411 elderly people (60 - 75 years old) in Hamadan, west of Iran, in 2016, by using multistage random sampling method. Two instruments were used in this study including a demographic questionnaire and Oxford happiness questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation, independent t-test, and One-way ANOVA.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Results:</span>&nbsp;The mean score of happiness was 41.17 (&plusmn; 15.2), which was evaluated at a moderate level. There was no significant difference between male and female elderly in happiness status. All 5 dimensions of happiness had a positive significant correlation with each other (P < 0.01). Results from T-Test and ANOVA indicated that there was a significant relationship between happiness and some socio-demographic characteristics such as age (P = 0.002), educational level (P = 0.001), and income status (P = 0.001).</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Conclusions:</span>&nbsp;Life satisfaction, financial status, and educational level contributed to the positive feeling in the perception of happiness in the elderly. Thus, adopting programs to increase happiness in the elderly could be useful as one of the strategies to improve all dimensions of health such as physical, mental, and social aspects.</p> </aside> Happiness, Aged, Mental Health, Retirement 112 118 http://ajnpp.umsha.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2-62&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Babak Moeini 1003194753284600350 1003194753284600350 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center and Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Majid Barati 1003194753284600351 1003194753284600351 No Research Center for Behavioral Disorders and Substance use and Public Health Department, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Maryam Farhadian 1003194753284600352 1003194753284600352 No Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center and Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Mohammad Babamiri 1003194753284600353 1003194753284600353 No Research Center for Health Sciences and Ergonomic Department, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan. IR Iran Milad Heydari Ara dm.heydariara@yahoo.com 1003194753284600354 1003194753284600354 Yes Public Health Department, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran