Cadzow Renee B, Servoss Timothy J
Department of Family Medicine, Primary Care Research Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14215, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2009 Mar;101(3):243-50. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30852-x.
This study examines the association between perceived social support and the prevalence of physical and mental health conditions among adult patients of an urban free medical clinic.
Patients (n = 289) completed a health risk assessment (HRA) questionnaire that addressed a number of medical and social issues, including perceived social support and whether patients had been told they had certain health conditions. Among these questions were 2 validated instruments: the PRIME-MD for mental health disorder assessment and CAGE for alcohol risk assessment. A deidentified database of responses was analyzed for statistical associations between perceived social support and these health conditions.
Among those with insufficient perceived social support there were higher rates of having physician-measured overweight/obesity, a heart condition, a previous heart attack, anxiety, and depression. The association between perceived social support and cardiovascular health existed among women but not among men. Higher income, not smoking, and consumption of high-fiber foods were associated with sufficient social support.
Perceiving sufficient social support was associated with lower rates of several mental and physical health disorders. Social support may act as a barrier or buffer to poor health caused by the stressful living conditions often experienced by low-income underinsured people. Males and females may experience this social support buffering differently.
本研究探讨城市免费医疗诊所成年患者所感知的社会支持与身心健康状况患病率之间的关联。
患者（n = 289）完成了一份健康风险评估（HRA）问卷，该问卷涉及诸多医学和社会问题，包括感知的社会支持以及患者是否被告知患有某些健康状况。这些问题中包含2种经过验证的工具：用于心理健康障碍评估的PRIME - MD和用于酒精风险评估的CAGE。对一个去除身份识别信息的回复数据库进行分析，以研究感知的社会支持与这些健康状况之间的统计关联。
在那些感知社会支持不足的人群中，经医生测量的超重/肥胖、心脏病、既往心脏病发作、焦虑和抑郁的发生率较高。感知的社会支持与心血管健康之间的关联在女性中存在，但在男性中不存在。高收入、不吸烟和食用高纤维食物与充足的社会支持相关。
感知到充足的社会支持与多种身心健康障碍的较低发生率相关。社会支持可能对低收入未充分参保人群经常经历的压力性生活条件所导致的健康不佳起到障碍或缓冲作用。男性和女性可能对这种社会支持缓冲的体验有所不同。
