Influence of social support on limitation in daily living among older persons in Malaysia

Abstract

Aim Studies on the influence of social support on activity limitation among older persons remain limited. A better understanding of this relationship will help with resource planning and policy making aimed to reduce burden of care. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of social support on limitation in daily living among older persons in Malaysia. Methods Data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2018, a nation‐wide, cross‐sectional survey using a two‐stage stratified sampling design, were analyzed. A representative sample of individuals aged ≥60 years identified through national sampling frames throughout Malaysia was included. Face‐to‐face interviews were conducted using validated questionnaires on activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL). Social support was measured using the Duke Social Support Index. Results The overall prevalence of the presence of any limitations in ADL and IADL was 17.0% and 42.9% respectively. Overall prevalence of the older persons with low to fair social support was 30.8% and high to very high social support was 69.2%. Logistic regression analysis identified the following factors as being associated with limitations in ADL and IADL: being female, of older age, having a monthly income <RM 1000 and reporting low to fair social support. Conclusion Low social support was associated with limitation in daily living among older persons in Malaysia. Future studies should consider evaluating the potential benefits of increasing social support on the activity limitation of our older population. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 26–32.

The prevalence of functional disability and its impact on older adults in the ASEAN region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 39 articles describing 34 studies with 59,944 participants from six ASEAN countries were included in the review (Figure 1) as data from three cohorts were reported in several publications. (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) Twenty-five studies were included in the meta-analysis. (14,17,18,)…”

“…(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) Twenty-five studies were included in the meta-analysis. (14,17,18,)…”

“…Three studies also reported the prevalence of IADL disability by gender, with a higher prevalence reported among females (65.4%) compared to males (36.9%, p<0.01). (14,27,33) The prevalence of IADL disability was relatively similar among community dwelling participants (49.6%) and older adults recruited from outpatient/primary care setting (55.5%). As only one study recruited institutionalised older adults and reported data on IADL, this information was not pooled in our analysis.…”

“…Five studies also reported prevalence by gender, which showed that the prevalence of ADL disability was 2.3 times higher in females than males (12.0% versus 5.2%; p<0.01). (14,18,23,27,33)…”

“…IADL limitations were reported to be associated with increasing age, female gender, comorbidities, illiteracy, education and social support. (14,26,27,32,39) The overall prevalence of IADL disability representing 7,311 older adult participants in the ASEAN region using Lawton and Brody scale was 46.8% (95% CI: 35.5% to 58.3%; Figure 2 and Figure 3). Similar to ADL disability, the highest prevalence of IADL disability was noted in Singapore, with a prevalence of 76.0% while the lowest was in Vietnam (23.9%).…”