Influence of social support on cognitive function and depression in community-dwelling elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the impact of social support on cognitive function and depression in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).Methods:From March to September 2018, 5 765 subjects over 60 years old from 52 villages in Yanlou Town, Yanggu County were selected and they were screened by mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living(ADL). Finally 4 750 valid questionnaires were recovered.According to the " Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" 4th Edition (DSM-Ⅳ), 733 patients with MCI (patient group) and 3 662 patients with normal cognitive function (healthy control group) were diagnosed.The social support rating scale (SSRS) and geriatric depression scale-15 (GDS-15) were used to evaluate the patients.SPSS 26.0 software was used for independent sample t-test, chi-square test, Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression analysis. Results:The total score of social support (48.55±9.72), objective social support (16.49±4.00), subjective social support (24.28±4.75) and social support utilization (7.78±2.85) in patients group were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (total score of social support (50.94±7.66), objective social support (17.23±3.42), subjective social support (25.59±3.61) and social support utilization (8.13±2.71)). The differences were statistically significant ( t=-6.291, -4.363, -8.245, -3.068, all P<0.05) .All the dimensions of social support(total score, objective support, subjective support, support utilization) were positively correlated with cognitive function ( r=0.084, 0.062, 0.128, 0.011, all P<0.05), and negatively correlated with depression score ( r=-0.240, -0.195, -0.200, -0.169, all P<0.01). Subjective social support, objective social support and social support utilization could positively predict MMSE score of MCI patients( β=0.190, 0.007, 0.029, all P<0.05), while could negatively predict the GDS-15 score of MCI patients( β=-0.145, -0.098, -0.105, all P<0.05). Conclusion:Good social support is a protective factor for cognitive function and depression in MCI patients.