The relationship between social support and cognitive status among older adults: Neyshabur longitudinal study on ageing

Aging has caused physical and cognitive defects in older adults, requiring serious intervention to support them. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating relationship between social support and cognitive status among older adults of Neyshabur city.

This cross-sectional study was conducted based on the data of the first phase of registration of the longitudinal Neyshabur Geriatric Cohort on 3451 people of 60 years and above. Data collection was done using demographic questionnaires, MMSE, MOCA and Duke social support questionnaire. .data was analyzed using SPSS v.16 software.

With the MMSE, one fifth of the participants (20.3%) and with the MOCA, almost half of the respondents (49.3%) did not have cognitive disorder. 84% of the respondents were satisfied with the social support received most of the time, and they were satisfied, had the least cognitive impairment. Education level was the strongest factor in predicting cognitive disorder, and MOCA was more influenced by demographic variables than MMSE.

Due to the high prevalence of cognitive disorders among older adults, careful examination and screening of cognitive disorders can lead to early diagnosis and prevention of disorder progression. Also, considering the relationship between social support and cognitive status, increasing the use of mass media, online technologies, designing programs and group recreational and sports activities can be effective in improving the cognitive status in older adults.