ABSTRACT
Background: There is a trend for older population to increase significantly by 2050. This increment is likely to escalate the prevalence of poor health outcomes such as depression and poor quality of life. Further, these are indications that social support is essential as ageing increases because of good social functioning.
Objective: To examine the effectiveness of social support interventions on depressive symptoms and quality of life (QoL) among older adults.
Method: Included in this review were study population of older adults aged 60 and above. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) that explored the effects of interventions involving social support on depressive symptoms and quality of life among older adults. A detailed search of 6 databases (MEDLINE via OVID, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL via EBSCOhost), Cochrane Library, African Journals Online and Web of Science Core Collections) was conducted. Data were selected and extracted using the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet 2010 version following the eligibility criteria. To assess the potential risk of bias in each study, two assessors independently assessed the eligible studies using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for parallel and cluster randomized controlled trials. A review protocol was developed and registered with the PROSPERO database (ID-CRD42021283342). A narrative synthesis was used to synthesize the findings of the different included studies and meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan software to combine the pooled standardized mean differences with 95% confidence interval.
Results: 10 RCTs (9 parallel and 1 cluster) was eligible from narrative synthesis showed that social support interventions had statistical significant effect in improving depression and QoL among older adults. Social support interventions used include social engagements, eHealth intervention, laughter therapy, postcard intervention, life story work, peer-to-peer support, group-based support, reminiscence therapy, social connection. The meta-analysis showed that social support interventions had statistical significance on depression than control interventions (ES= -0.43; -0.85, -0.01; p=0.04).
Conclusion: Social support interventions are beneficial in reducing depressive symptoms and QoL relative to other interventions used in the systematic review. However, there is a need for further studies on the effect of social support interventions on QoL among older adults.
Keywords: Social support, depression, quality of life, QoL, systematic review, meta-analysis, older adults.
