Relationship between social support and depression among older people from elderly care social organizations in Anhui Province, China.

Objective: To examine the relationship between absent social support and depression among older adults from elderly care social organizations in Anhui Province, China.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method was conducted in six selected cities of Anhui Province, China. A linear regression model was employed to estimate the association between absent social support and depression.

Results: All in all, 1167 older people were included. Social support and the three dimensions studied were all negatively correlated with depression. These findings suggest that older people from elderly care organizations, who reported higher social support, were less likely to develop depression. This association also existed after stratified analysis in different areas: household (urban/rural), age and gender.

Discussion: A higher level of social support was correlated with lower chances of experiencing depression. These findings are consistent with the majority of previous literature having reported on social support among elderly populations. However, some of our findings differ from those of other studies.

Conclusions: Our study suggests that improved social support could help to prevent depression among older adults.