Study On The Status And Characteristics Of Social Relations Among Patients With Geriatric Depression

Background:The incidence of geriatric depression is increasing year by year,which brings great harm to the physical and mental health of the elderly population.Social relation(including functional and structural aspects,the former embodied by social support,the latter through social network)can promote the symptom control of patients with geriatric depression and improve their condition and quality of life.It is very important for patients to grasp the status and characteristics of their social relations and the weak points so as to carry out targeted intervention.However,the status quo and characteristics of social relations in patients with geriatric depression are not clear,which deserves further study.Objectives:(1)To investigate the status quo and characteristics of social relations among patients with geriatric depression,and to analyze whether there are differences in social relations among patients with different characteristics(such as gender,age,disease course,etc.).(2)To explore the relationship between social support and social network in patients with geriatric depression.Methods:A total of 288 patients with geriatric depression were recruited from a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Beijing from March 2017 to February 2018 by convenience sampling.Data were collected by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support,egocentric social network questionnaire and interview.SPSS 22.0 and Ucinet 6 were used for statistics and analysis of the collected data.Results:(1)The average score of perceived social support was(51.97±11.89).(2)The number of escorts for the three orbits from inside to outside in the convoy model of the patients was(1.07±1.29),(2.62±1.84)and(2.13±2.45)respectively.The scale of egocentric social network was(6.66±4.87),and the average density was(0.98±0.09).(3)Social network of patients can be divided into six types:comprehensive,family-focused,family-only,relatives focused,friends focused and relatives-only.(4)The scale of social network was positively correlated with the score of perceived social support,friend support and other significant person support(P<0.05).Network density was negatively correlated with friend support(P=0.020).There was a significant positive correlation between the number of people in the innermost orbit and the score of family support dimension(P=0.030).The number of people in intermediate orbit was positively correlated with the support scores of other significant people(P=0.027).The number of people in outermost orbit was positively correlated with perceived social support,friend support and other significant person support scores(P<0.05).Conclusions:(1)The function of social relation of elderly depressed patients is at the medium level of support,which is significantly lower than that of normal elderly people,and vulnerable to various factors;the structure of social relation is smaller than that of normal elderly people,and the degree of emotional intimacy is lower.(2)There is a significant correlation between the function and structure of social relation in geriatric depression.The larger the social network,the higher the social support.