بررسی سلامت اجتماعی سالمندان و عوامل مرتبط با آن (مطالعه موردی شهر آذرشهر)

Introduction and purpose: Scholars in the field of humanities and biology consider elderly as the last period of human life. The main purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the elderly social health in Azarshahr city. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted among 312 elderly aged more than 65 years old residing in Azarshahr city. &nbsp;Participants were recruited using stratified random sampling method. We collected data using using Keyes's Social well-being Questionnaire consisted of 23 questions (4-points Likert type) with answers ranging from &ldquo;Always&rdquo; to &ldquo;Never&rdquo;.&nbsp; Furthermore, degree of social support was measured using Sarason&rsquo;s Social Support Questionnaire. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA were used to analysis data using SPSS software. Findings: Findings from this study showed that 56.5% of respondents had acceptable level of social health while, 43.5% had low level of social health. There were significant relationships between elderly social health and age (p< 0.05), social support (p< 0.01) and socio-economic status (p<0.001). However, there was no significant relationship between social health and gender (p=0.28) as well as marital status (p=0.67). Conclusion: Our findings showed that social health did not differ across gender and marital status. Nevertheless, social health status deteriorates by advancement of age and decreased level of social support. Therefore, elderly who receive higher level of social support are healthier. Finally, the results of current study revealed that elderly with high socio-economic status have better social health.