Assessing social support in older adults with cognitive disorders living in institutions.

OBJECTIVES

Although social support is a major dimension of well-being, there is a lack of appropriate tools to assess it in older adults with neurocognitive disorders. This study aims to provide a validation of an adapted version of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (PSSQ) for this population. A secondary objective was to investigate whether psychosocial and cognitive outcomes varied according to the category of persons perceived as available (family, professionals, friends, residents).

METHOD: 113 nursing home residents with neurocognitive disorders were administered the adapted PSSQ and a full clinical examination.

RESULTS

Factor analysis confirmed the structure in two factors (availability and satisfaction with social support). The adapted PSSQ showed satisfactory internal consistency (ω = 0.83-0.84) and good divergent (ps ≥ 0.113) and convergent validity (ps ≤ 0.048). Family members were the most frequently perceived as available. Participants who perceived professionals as available showed a higher level of institutional adaptation (p = 0.005) and tended to report fewer anxiety symptoms (p = 0.069). Those who identified family as available were more satisfied with social support (p < 0.001) and had higher quality of life (p = 0.009).

CONCLUSION

With good psychometric qualities, the adapted PSSQ is a quick and easy-to-administer tool allowing assessment of social support for residents with moderate to severe cognitive impairment.