The influence of social support on cognitive impairment in the elderly

Background In Malaysia, as a result of urbanization and due to the migration of the youth from rural to urban areas, more elderly are now living on their own leading to poor social support and reduced social interactions which may result in negative consequences to the cognitive function of the elderly. Aims To determine the influence of social support on cognitive impairment among elderly Malaysians. Methods This cross sectional study was conducted using a representative sample for Penang, Malaysia. The Elderly Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire (ECAQ) was used to screen for cognitive impairment and Oslo-3 Social Support Scale (OSS-3) was used to measure social support. Results A total of 2005 elderly participated in the study, 10.8 per cent had borderline cognitive impairment whereas 4.8 per cent were cognitively impaired with borderline dementia. Most of the participants had moderate social support (63.6 per cent) and 16.3 per cent had poor social support. There is about a threefold higher odds of being cognitively impaired among those who have poor social support (OR 3.1 [2.0-4.8]. a OR 2.6 [1.2-5.4]). Attributable risk analysis showed that 65 per cent risk of cognitive impairment in the sample was due to poor social support whereas in the population it was 24.0 per cent. Conclusion The rapid urbanization and the changes brought along with it are likely to affect social support and eventually the cognitive health of the elderly.