Social Support and Quality of Life of Institutionalized and Non-institutionalized Older People: A Comparative Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Social support (SS) enhances Quality of Life (QoL) of older people. Understanding of the variations of SS available for and perceived by institutionalized and non institutionalized older people in Sri Lanka is important in promoting health of elderly population. Objectives: To describe and compare relationships of QoL and SS between institutionalized and non-institutionalized older adults in Galle, Sri Lanka. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted using a conveniently selected sample of 70 institutionalized and 70 non-institutionalized older people in Galle. Validated scales of WHOQOL–BREF and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to assess QoL and SS of the target groups respectively. Higher scores in MSPSS indicated higher SS. Results: The mean value of the total QoL scores was higher in non-institutionalized older people compared to that of others (66.4±21.3 vs 59.3±14.4, p<0.05). The mean value of the total MSPSS score was also higher in non-institutionalized compared to that of institutionalized older people (5.3±0.9 vs 3.9±1.1, p<0.05). The mean scores of family support (23.1±3.8 vs 12.8±7.3, p<0.05), support from the friends (19.1±5.1 vs 18.4±4.3, p<0.05) and support from significant others (22.2±4.7 vs 4.0±1.8, p<0.05) were higher in non-institutionalized compared to that of institutionalized older people. There was a positive correlation between MSPSS scores and total QoL scores in the non-institutionalized older people (r=0.34, p<0.01), but no such correlation was found between MSPSS scores and total QoL scores in the institutionalized older people (r=0.054, p=0.655). Conclusions: The QoL of the non-institutionalized older people is better than that of institutionalized older people. One possible reason for this observation is that the SS perceived by non-institutionalized older people is higher than that of institutionalized older people. Social support systems available for institutionalized older people should be strengthened to improve their QoL.