The Relationship Between "Quality of life" and Social Support of the Retired Military Personnel

Introduction: The heavy physical and mental pressure and stress in military career increases the sensitivity and importance of social support in the retired army officers and personnel. Specifically, their quality of life during the retirement are affected by the physical and mental damage resulting from the military service and life style. Objective: This research investigated the relationship between the quality of life of military personnel and social support from the society. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional and correlational study. The study population included all the retired military personnel referring to the Army Retirements Center. The sample size was 146 of which 132 (82.9) were male. The mean of age and standard deviation of respondents were 65.4 (5.09) years; they were selected by random cluster sampling. To collect data, a three questionnaires like Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, Elderly Specific Questionnaire a questionnaire for the evaluation of quality life (lipad) were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20. And the significant level of P was considered. Results: The mean of quality of life was 47.3 (SD 5.4) which suggests the average level and the mean of social unsupportiveness was 18.9. The relationship between social support and quality of life was statistically significant (P=0.002). Discussion and Conclusion: As the evaluations showed the average quality life of retired military personnel and the changes of social support plays a pivotal role in the shaping this status , the policy makers must focus on increasing  the social support to improve the quality of life of retired military personnel.