Association between Cognitive Flexibility, Flourishing and Physical Health in Patients with Chronic Diseases

Description

Page: 227-230

Shirley Tellesa, Babita Vishwakarmaa, and Sachin Kumar Sharmaa (Patanjali Research Foundation, Haridwar, Uttarakhand)

While cognitive flexibility helps trauma survivors cope, the association with physical well-being is less clear. This study determined the association between cognitive flexibility and both flourishing and physical well-being in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases. One hundred and forty patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, of both genders, with ages ranging from 18-60 years were assessed for (i) cognitive flexibility (using the cognitive flexibility scale), (ii) flourishing (using the flourishing scale) and (iii) somatic symptoms (the physical health questionnaire). Associations were obtained with (i) Pearson correlation test and (ii) linear regression analyses. There was a significant negative correlation between cognitive flexibility and overall physical health (r = -0.23; p <0.01). In the linear regression analyses, cognitive flexibility scores were a significant predictor for total physical health scores alone (adjusted R square = 0.04, p<0.05). Being cognitively flexible appears to be associated with better physical health in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases.