A Meta-Analysis of Researches on the Relationship between Social Support and Quality of Life in Iranian Elders

The purpose of this research was the meta–analysis of researches on the relationship between social support and quality of life (QOL) in Iranian elders. Therefore, two questions were proposed about effect size of the relationship between social support and QOL in Iranian elders and the relationship between types of social support and QOL of the elderly was compared.
To answer the meta-analysis questions, among researches on the relationship between social support and QOL which have been performed in different areas of Iran, 7 researches which were acceptable in terms of methodology and had inclusive criteria were selected for meta–analysis. These 7 researches contained 15 effect sizes about the relationship between social support and QOL in the elderly. The total sample size of these researches was 1852 persons. A meta-analysis checklist was used to collect data.
Findings: Based on the results of this meta–analysis, effect size of the relationship between social support and QOL in Iranian elderly was 0.33 (P > 0.001). The findings of this meta-analysis also showed that the effect size of the relationship between emotional support and QOL, tool support and QOL, and information support and QOL was, respectively, 0.29 (P >0.001), 0.18 (P > 0.001), and 0.20 (P > 0.001) in the elderly.
Results of this meta–analysis showed that effect size of the relationship between social support and QOL in the Iranian elderly, in total and regarding emotional support based on the Cohen criteria, was moderate in Iran. This illustrates the importance of providing the context for strengthening social support in order to improve the QOL of Iranian elderly.