Paper Title
NEXUS OF PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL HEALTH WITH HAPPINESS AND COGNITION IN AGING POPULATION: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL TELANGANA

Abstract
Background - Subjective wellbeing and happiness are strong predictors for overall health and functioning of individuals. Successful ageing encompasses physical and cognitive health, mental and social wellbeing, perceived happiness and satisfaction. The present research examined the relationship of happiness with physical activity, cognition and social wellbeing in ageing population from rural communities. Materials and Methods - A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Patancheru Rural Health Centre, Sangareddy District, Telangana. 270 ageing adults between the age group of 40-80years meeting inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study by simple random sampling. Assessment of the variables, Happiness (Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-OHQ), physical function (International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Timed up and go test, Functional reach test, Sit to stand test, Hand grip dynamometry, anthropometric measurement), cognitive performance (Montreal Cognitive Assessment-MoCA), Social networking (Duke Social Support Index-DSSI) was performed utilising community interactive and recreational approaches. Results - Spearman’s correlational and Pearson’s Chi square analysis was done to find out that cognition was a strong correlate of happiness (p<0.001), followed by physical activity behaviour (p<0.01) while social connectivity (p= 0.44) showed a weaker association, in overall indicating the positive relationship of happiness with multidimensional components of health and wellbeing. Conclusion - Promoting physical and cognitive interventions in socially interacting and recreational environment can be sustainable strategies for healthy and active aging in communities in general and in rural areas in specific for sustainable societies. Keywords - Happiness, Physical activity, Functional health, Cognition, Social Environment, Healthy Aging