Social network and older people's functionality: Health, Well-being, and Aging (SABE) study evidences.

Introduction: Possessing active social networks seems to positively influence the functional performance of elderly people.

Objective: To verify the association between the characteristics of social networks of the elderly people and the emergence of functional impairment.

Methods: This is a longitudinal population-based study, which used the 2006 (n = 1,413) and 2010 (n = 990) cohorts of the Health, Well-Being, and Aging (SABE) Study. To characterize the social networks, the following variables were used: number of members in the network; living arrangements; sex and age of the members; coresidence with children or only elderly individuals; satisfaction with the relationships; and receiving and offering social support (financial, material, emotional, performing tasks inside and outside the home, providing companionship, and personal care). Logistic regression was used to analyze the data. All ethical guidelines were followed.

Results: The social networks of the elderly people had an average of 8.15 members and consisted predominantly of family members aged between 15 and 59 years. Dependent elderly people received more material support, help in performing household tasks and those outside the home, and personal care, while the independent elderly people received more emotional support and companionship. Provision of social support (OR = 0.32, 95%CI 0.14 - 0.71) decreased the chances of developing dependency, independent of sociodemographic and health conditions.

Conclusion: The strengthening of social networks in old age should be encouraged since confidence in informal care offered, mainly by families, may not be the best option for dealing with the growing demand for care that accompanies the aging of the population.