Social Support Among Older Persons and Its Association With Smoking and Associated Factors: Findings From the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2018

Abstract

Background
 Globally the average age of the worlds’ population of older persons continues to upsurge and social support becomes increasingly relevant. Overall, in Malaysia, social support and networking prevalence was found to be lower among older persons at 30.76%. In view of the scarce data on social support and its association with smoking status and its associated factors among the older Malaysian population this study was conducted.
 Methods
 Data from the National Health and Morbidity (NHMS) 2018 survey on health of older Malaysian adults was analyzed. This was a cross sectional population-based study using a two-stage stratified random sampling design. Elderly population aged 60 years and above was selected. Data were collected were sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, and social support. A validated Malay language, interviewer-administered questionnaire of 11-item Duke Social Support Index was applied for assessing social support among the elderly. A complex sampling design analysis was used for the descriptive statistics. The associated risk factors for social support were identified using Multiple Logistic Regression analysis.
 Results
 A total of 3923 elderly respondents participated in the study. The prevalence of good social support was significantly higher among the 60-69 years old respondents compared to the > 80 years old (73.1%, 95% CI :69.3% -76.5% vs 50.1 %, 95% CI:41.7 %- 58.6%).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of poor social support were 1.7 times (aOR: 1.72 % ,95%CI: 1.19 -2.48) higher for the respondents aged > 80 years old, than those aged 60-69 years. Respondents with no formal education were 1.93 higher odds of poor social support than the respondents with tertiary education (aOR: 1.93%, 95%CI: 1.13,3.30). Respondents with income < RM 1000 were 1.94 times more likely to have poor social support compared to respondents with income > RM 3000 (aOR: 1.94, 95% CI : 1.21 -3.13). Former smokers have good social support compared to current smokers (73.6% ,95% CI: 67.7-78.7 vs 65.1 %, 95%CI:58.4 -71.2). For current smokers, the odds of poor social support were 42.0% higher than for non-smokers (aOR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.05 -1.91.
 
 
 Conclusion
 There is poor social support among the older persons who are current smokers, advancing age, no formal education and low income However, further longitudinal studies are needed to determine the exact effects of the studied variables. These findings could assist the policymakers to develop strategies at the national level to enhance social support among the older smokers to ensure cessation of smoking.