ABSTRACT
The present study examined the relationship between social support, activity level and physical health among a sample of 96 Puerto Rican elderly persons. The Spanish version of the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB28) was used to assess social support. Two structured questionnaires were administered to obtain measures of activity level and physical health. A multiple correlation-regression analysis was performed, and partial correlation coefficients were also obtained. A partial correlation of .48 (p < .001) was observed between the ISSB scores and the measure of physical health, indicating a direct relationship between poor health and social support. This finding is inconsistent with previous studies, which suggest that better health is associated with higher levels of social support. Moderate-low, negative correlations were found between activity level and 3 indicators of poor health. Thus, higher activity levels were associated with better physical health. For example, partial correlations of-.31 (p = .003) and -.29 (p = .007), respectively, were found between the activity level and the number and length of hospital stays. The correlation between the amount of surgical interventions undergone by the patient during the previous year and the activity level was -.28 (p = .009). These findings demonstrate that higher levels of activity are associated with better physical health in elderly persons, as indicated by less frequent and shorter hospital stays, and lower frequency of surgical interventions. Several multiple regression analyses showed that social support and activity level, taken together, are statistically significant predictors of the number and length of hospital stays, and the number of surgical interventions undergone by the elderly patient. Together, these two factors explain from 11 to 18% of the variability in several indicators of physical health