Relationship between social support and COVID-19 anxiety in the elderly

Introduction and Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing both physical and mental problems to people’s health. The psychological effects are of a wide variety, such as panic disorders, fears, anxiety, depression. Of special interest is an increase of anxiety of people in the community, in the elderly, and people with underlying diseases. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between social support and the level of COVID-19 anxiety in the elderly in Fasa. Methods: The present study was cross-sectional research conducted on 600 elderly covered by urban and rural family physician clinics after obtaining permission from the Research Deputy and the Ethics Committee of the university through the Press Line program. The research data were collected through demographic information collection form, COVID-19 anxiety measurement questionnaire, and multidimensional scale of perceived social support. They were completed in a self-reporting manner. Data were analyzed in SPSS-23 software. Results: The mean age of the elderly was 65.91±4.84 years. Most of the participants (60%) were female. There was a significant negative relationship between anxiety and perceived social support and its components (p<0.05). The results of regression analysis showed that the variables of social support, job, and marital status had a statistically significant relationship with anxiety (p<0.05) and these variables explained 42% of the variance of the COVID-19 anxiety variable in the elderly (p