Happiness in patients with diabetes mellitus and systemic arterial hypertension

Happiness is a state of mind which reflects an array of hormonal interplay within the body. These mechanisms have tremendous overall impact on patient's health in terms of enhanced immunity. Current study was planned to evaluate happiness in patients with diabetes mellitus and systemic arterial hypertension. The study also aimed to explore the effect of age and gender in such patients. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at Department of Psychology, Islamic International University Islamabad from February to May 2016. Thirty-six patients of diabetes mellitus and 44 of arterial hypertension were included through convenience sampling from Heart International hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi. Happiness was measured using a validated and reliable tool 'the subjective happiness scale'. Mean happiness levels were compared between the groups using independent t-test and One-Way ANOVA. Alpha was kept at 0.05. Results: There were 36 (45%) patients with diabetes mellitus and 44 (55%) with hypertension with age range of 30-60 years and male to female ratio of 1:1. Mean happiness levels between diabetics and hypertensives were 19.13±2.64 and 14.11±3.98 respectively and the difference was significant (p=0.02). There was no effect of age and gender on happiness level in these patients. Conclusion: Patients with arterial hypertension have lower level of happiness compared to those suffering from diabetes mellitus irrespective of age and gender. (author)