SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SMOKING IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS

Today, the elderly population is on the rise, and incurable and chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis are one of their main problems. On the other hand, some high-risk health behaviors, such as smoking, are also common among the elderly. Given the role that social support can play in controlling chronic diseases and high-risk health behaviors such as smoking, the present study aimed to determine social support and smoking in the elderly patients with osteoarthritis.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 384 elderly patients with osteoarthritis who were referred to the clinics of Tabriz University of Medical Science. Sampling method was two stages cluster sampling. After completing the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (independent t-test) by SPSS16 software.

The results of the present study showed that 16.8% of the elderly with osteoarthritis were smokers and 83.2% of the elderly with osteoarthritis were non-smokers. The rate of social support (family and others) in the non-smoker elderly with osteoarthritis was higher than smoker elderly and among different dimensions, the highest rate was related to family support.

Due to the higher rate of smoking in the elderly with osteoarthritis and the important role of social support, especially family support, the importance of supportive social communication for families should be clarified through educational interventions to reduce the prevalence of smoking.