Suporte social percebido pelo idosos com diabetes e hipertensão

Abstract

Population aging is a Brazilian and international reality. In recent years, Brazil has gone through a process of demographic and epidemiological transition that has led to a reduction in morbidity and mortality from infectious and parasitic diseases and an increase in noncommunicable and multiple chronic diseases. The present study is characterized as exploratory, descriptive and analytical, with a cross-sectional view, with the objective of analyzing the social support perceived by the elderly with Diabetes Mellitus and Arterial Hypertension and, more specifically, to characterize the sociodemographic profile of the elderly and to analyze the association between perceived support and sociodemographic characteristics verify the main sources of social support perceived by the diabetic and/or hypertensive elderly. Secondary data from the research "Resilience, quality of life and frailty in elderly people enrolled in the primary health care network" carried out in Campina Grande between 2016 and 2017 were used. 371 elderly, aged 60 years and over, with Diabetes Mellitus and Arterial Hypertension, who were monitored by the Basic Health Units in the city of Campina Grande-PB. The variables to characterize the demographic and economic conditions of the participants were selected from the demographic questionnaire and to measure the perceived support, the variables from the Social Support Network Inventory were used. A multiple linear regression analysis (forward method) was performed to measure the effect of sociodemographic variables and on the levels of perceived social support. Chisquare tests were performed to verify the association between perceived social support and marital status, religion and income variables. It appears that the elderly included in the study have a mean age of 71.34 (± 6.48), 81.4% female, 39.9% married marital status, 54.2% selfdeclared cabloco/mulatto/brown, 71% retired and 27% with family income between 901.00 and 1,761.00 reais. The analysis between perceived social support and sociodemographic variables showed significant associations between perceived social support and marital status (c2(3) = 10.954, p <0.012, V = 0.173); religion (c2(3) = 10.764, p < 0.013, V = 0.172) and income (c2(3) = 9.216, p < 0.027, V = 0.159). The mean total score of the Social Support Inventory was 4.37 (SD = 0.52), demonstrating that the elderly have a high perception of social support. It is observed that elderly women had a higher level of social support compared to men (U = 3096,000, z = -2.419, p < 0.01). However, the effect size was low (r = 0.15). Elderly people who live with their children perceive more social support (U = 6487,500, z = -2.198, p < 0.02, r = 0.14), as do elderly people who live with their grandchildren (U = 3769, 000, z = -2.503, p < 0.01, r = 0.16), when compared to those who do not live. No statistically significant results were found between social support, age and living alone. The study of the association between perceived social support and sociodemographic characteristics in elderly people with diabetes and/or hypertension revealed issues that the elderly face in the course of daily life and how the perception of social support is part of their lives. It is noteworthy that the elderly perceived more family support, standing out as their main source of social support, followed by friends, groups and health professionals.