Introduction: The growing trend of the aging phenomenon introduce the necessity of attention to perceived social support as an effective factor in promoting older adults health. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between perceived social support and health in the elderly in Azarshahr.
Method: The current study is a cross-sectional and descriptive study which was conducted by participation of 312 older adults who aged 65 years and above from Azarshahr city using stratified random sampling method. The Goldberg General Health Questionnaire was used to evaluate the mental health, the General Health Questionnaire to assess general health and ability to perform activities of daily living, the Keyes Social Health Questionnaire to measure social health and the Sarason’s Social Support Questionnaire to assess perceived social support. One-dimensional tables and independent t test and ANOVA were used to describe and analysis of the data by SPSS software version 14.
Results: The health status of the elderly in the Azarshahr is on moderate level (53.53%). Approximately 47 percent of them had a high level of perceived social support. There is a significant relationship between perceived social support and mental (p <0.001) and social health of older adults (p = 0.002), while there is no significant relationship between perceived social support and physical health of them (p = 0.431).
Conclusion: Elderly people with high level of perceived social support have better mental and social health than others. But perceived social support does not have any effect on physical health.