Relationships between Perceived Social Support and Physical Activity with Mood, Physical Fitness and Cognitive Status of Elderly in Golestan Province, Iran

Due to advances in medicine and technology in recent years, the number of elderly has increased substantially in most countries. As a result, addressing factors influencing the elderly population to improve their physical, psychological, and cognitive status is of great importance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between perceived social support and physical activity with the mood, physical fitness, and cognitive status of elderly people.

This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to September 2019 in Golestan province, Northeast of Iran. The sample consisted of 142 people over 60 years old (including 131 women and 11 men) who were selected using a random sampling method from Gorgan, Gonbad Kavous, Aliabad Katoul, and Azadshahr cities of Golestan province in 2019. Data was gathered using Perceived Social Support Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, Wechsler Memory Scale, Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity Questionnaire, and Rikli and Jones’ physical fitness test for the elderly. Data were analyzed in SPSS-22 and Spearman correlation coefficient used to study the cooperation between variables.

The finding showed that the mean age of participants was 66.56 years old and perceived social support had significant correlation with depression (r=-0.48, P<0.001) and memory (r=0.24, P=0.003). There was a significant correlation between physical activity and physical fitness (r=0.18, P=0.049), but no significant correlation were observed between physical activity with depression and memory. In addition, physical fitness had significant correlation with depression (r=0.27, P=0.001) and memory (r=0.27, P=0.001).

Perceived social support and physical activity can be considered important factors for improving the mood-cognitive-physical status of the elderly. Therefore, gerontologists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists can improve the mood-cognitive-physical status of the elderly by improving social relationships and physical activity.