Association Between Social Support and the Profiles of Family Caregivers of Patients with Disability and Dependence

Abstract

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that analyzes the association between dimensions of social support and the profiles of family caregivers. The following instruments were used to interview 110 caregivers: a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Social Network Index, the Medical Outcomes Study, and the Barthel Index. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare dimensions of social support and the qualitative variables as well as to determine the Spearman correlation for the quantitative variables. Caregivers who could not read or had never studied showed better perception of social support in all dimensions except the affective. In the positive interaction dimension, groups who had a partner and denied being overloaded showed a higher average than others. In addition, the number of family members and friends correlated with all dimensions of social support. Thus, the results indicate that one’s social network is important for the perception of support.