title: Sources of social support associated with health and quality of life: a cross-sectional study among Canadian and Latin American older adults.
abstract: To examine whether the association between emotional support and indicators of health and quality of life differs between Canadian and Latin American older adults.
  
  
  
  Cross-sectional analysis of the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS). Social support from friends, family members, children and partner was measured with a previously validated social network and support scale (IMIAS-SNSS). Low social support was defined as ranking in the lowest site-specific quartile. Prevalence ratios (PR) of good health, depression and good quality of life were estimated with Poisson regression models, adjusting for age, gender, education, income and disability in activities of daily living.
  
  
  
  Kingston and Saint-Hyacinthe in Canada, Manizales in Colombia and Natal in Brazil.
  
  
  
  1600 community-dwelling adults aged 65-74 years, n=400 at each site.
  
  
  
  Likert scale question on self-rated health, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and 10-point analogical quality-of-life (QoL) scale.
  
  
  
  Relationships between social support and study outcomes differed between Canadian and Latin American older adults. Among Canadians, those without a partner had a lower prevalence of good health (PR=0.90; 95% CI 0.82 to 0.98), and those with high support from friends had a higher prevalence of good health (PR=1.09; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.18). Among Latin Americans, depression was lower among those with high levels of support from family (PR=0.63; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.83), children (PR=0.60; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.80) and partner (PR=0.57; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.77); good QoL was associated with high levels of support from children (PR=1.54; 95% CI 1.20 to 1.99) and partner (PR=1.31; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.67).
  
  
  
  Among older adults, different sources of support were relevant to health across societies. Support from friends and having a partner were related to good health in Canada, whereas in Latin America, support from family, children and partner were associated with less depression and better QoL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Public Health Research Institute (IRSPUM), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bélanger
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Tamer
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vafaei
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Research Group on Geriatrics and Gerontology, International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics Collaborative Centre, University of Caldas, Manizales, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carmen Lucia
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Curcio
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Public Health Research Institute (IRSPUM), Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Maria Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zunzunegui
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Aging; Cross-cultural gerontology; Social determinants of health; Social support