RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL SUPPORT AND MORTALITY RISK IN OLDER BLACK ADULTS

• Published in: Innovation in aging Vol. 1; no. suppl_1; p. 425
• Main Authors: Gamaldo, A., Thorpe, R.J., Aiken Morgan, A.T., Allaire, J., Whitfield, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: US Oxford University Press 01.07.2017
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx004.1528

The current study examined the relationship between social support and mortality risk utilizing data from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (BSBA; n = 602; Mean age = 69.12). Participants were administered a battery of demographic (e.g., age, sex, income, education), social (e.g., social support), and health surveys (e.g., perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and diagnosed health conditions). Participants were also administered a global mental status test (Mini-Mental State Examination). Approximately 9 years after data collection, 52 participants were deceased. A logistic regression tested whether reports of social support given/received at BSBA wave 1 data collection predicted mortality risk (living or deceased) following the wave 1 visit. High levels of social support given was associated with lower odds of morality (OR=.89; 95% CI 0.81–0.99) even after adjusting for demographic and health covariates (i.e., age, sex, education, income, stress, depression, number of health conditions, and global mental status). No significant association was observed between social support received and lower odds of morality (OR=1.02; 95% CI 0.93–1.12). These results suggest the ability to provide (and not necessarily to give) social support is an indicator for morality risk in older Black adults.