Apoio social e qualidade de vida: um estudo comparativo entre idosos cuidadores e idosos receptores de cuidado
Abstract
Introduction: Specific health demands may exist among the older adults and this reinforces
the need to study aspects capable of improving quality of life and health in old age. In this
sense, social support has been considered an important determinant of health and disease.
With the aging population and the higher prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases,
there may be limitations in the performance of activities of daily living and the need for a
caregiver. The task of caregiving may arise suddenly and the caregiver may need social
support, especially when they are older adults who care for other older adults. Scholars point
out that having social support in old age can improve the quality of life and well-being of
caregivers. It is known that a lack of social support can intensify health problems and
negatively impact caregiving. Thus, by early identification of the scarcity or insufficiency of
social support, interventions can be planned in order to reduce health care costs and improve
the quality of life of these individuals. Objective: comparing social support and quality of life
among older caregivers and older adults care recipients. Method: observational,
cross-sectional and quantitative research. It is a cut of a larger study conducted in the city of
São Carlos/SP, with 112 older people aged 60 years or older who lived with another older
person, 56 older caregivers and 56 older adults care receivers. Data collection took place at
the older adults home from July/2019 to March/2020, with the following instruments:
questionnaire for characterization of the older adults (caregivers and care recipients) and of
the care context, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale and two Quality of Life
Questionnaires (WHOQOL-Bref and WHOQOL-Old). Descriptive and comparative analyses
were performed. Pearson's Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, and Spearman's Correlation tests were
used. The significance level adopted was 5% (p<0.05). All ethical aspects involving research
with human beings were observed. Results: regarding social support, the older caregivers
obtained a mean score of 81.64 and the older adults care receivers, 83.53. With regard to the
results obtained in the scales on quality of life, the older caregivers had total mean scores of
61.79 and 71.73. The older adults care receivers had mean total scores of 60.73 and 70.39. A
statistically significant difference was identified between the participants for material support
(p=0.004) and the physical domain of the quality of life scale (p=0.002). A direct and
moderate correlation was observed between quality of life and social support of the older
caregivers (p<0.001). Conclusion: older caregivers have lower scores of material support and
better perception of the physical domain of the quality of life scale when compared to the
older adults care receivers. Moreover, the correlation identified between the variables of interest allows us to infer that the higher the score obtained in the social support scale, the
higher the score in the quality of life scale.
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