LEVEL OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AND ITS CORRELATES AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE AIRWAY DISORDER IN A TERTIARY HEALTH CARE CENTER IN NIGERIA.
Keywords:
Social support, hronic obstructive airway disease, Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support.Abstract
Aim:- The aim of the study was to examine the level of social support available to patients with
COAD as well as factors that may relate with it.
Methods: - The study was carried out at the Respiratory Out-Patient Clinic of the University of
Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City. A total of 69 patients formed the study sample. It
was a cross sectional study. Self-administered instrument comprising sections on sociodemographic characteristics and Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
questionnaire was filled by all consenting patients. Result was analyzed with SPSS version 16 for
windows.
Results: -A total of 69 respondents participated. The domain for the “significant others” gave a
mean score of 5.71± 0.14. The mean score for the family domain was 6.02±0.14 while the mean
score of the friends was 5.21±0.18. The overall mean score was 5.63±0.13. The mean score for
each of the domains of the MSPSS scale showed levels above 5.1 signifying high social support.
No socio-demographic characteristic was significantly associated with level of social support.
Conclusion: - There was a high level of social support among patients with COAD seen in UBTH,
Benin City.
