BUKU ABSTRAK - Universiti Putra Malaysia

Social Sciences
The Influence of Types of Social Support on Self-rated Health among Elderly
Malaysians
Dr. Rahimah Ibrahim
Siti Suhailah, A. and Abolfathi Momtaz, Y.
Institute of Gerontology, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8947 2754; imahibrahim@putra.upm.edu.my
The importance of social support to the health of older people has been established, although the understanding
of how this association occurs is still evolving. The purpose of the study is to explore the impact of the types
of social support on self-rated health among the elderly. Secondary data were derived from a cross-sectional
study entitled Patterns of Social Relationship and Psychological Well Being among Older Persons in Peninsular
Malaysia (PSRPWO) 2007-2008. Sample for current analysis consists of 1880 Malaysian older persons between
the age of 60 to 100 years old (M=70.3, SD=8.01). Self-rated health was assessed through a single item asking
respondents to rate their overall health on a 5-point scale of 1 ‘very poor’ to 5 ‘excellent’ whereas health problems
or the number of diseases present was held constant in the analysis. The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social
Support Survey comprising 19 items collapsed into four domains of support (emotional or informational, physical,
affectionate, and positive social interaction) was used to measure the degree of different types of social support.
Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that among the elderly, social support significantly contributed
to self-rated health over and beyond the presence of disease [?F(4, 1864)=30.72, ?R2=5%, p