Influence of social support on older adults with cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, or both coexisting.

The influence of social support dimensions (the extent of contact with others, the satisfaction with contacts, and the availability of help if sick or disabled) in elderly people with cognitive impairment (COG), depressive symptoms (DEP), or the co-occurrence of these symptoms (COG-DEP) was assessed in a cross-sectional analysis of a representative sample of 579 individuals aged 65 years and older. A lower extent of contact was related to COG (OR: 2.26). Fair satisfaction with contacts was related to DEP (OR: 2.88) and COG-DEP (OR: 4.22). A low level of satisfaction with contacts was an important predictor for DEP (OR: 7.99) and COG-DEP (OR: 7.88). Therefore, different dimensions of social support were independently correlated with different aspects of mental health. Quantitative aspects of social support were significantly linked to the presence of cognitive impairment. Satisfaction with social support affected depressive symptoms both alone and when they co-occurred with cognitive impairment.