Page 45 - GHES-1-2

Global Health Econ Sustain Social support and health in musculoskeletal disorders

In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire was responsible for human experimentation (institutional and
used, covering five sections: (i) The first section concerns national), and the Declaration of Helsinki 1975.
demographic data of the sample (sex, age, marital status, Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive
number of children, education level, professional status, statistics and inductive statistics. Descriptive statistics
type of professional work, number of family members in captured the demographics of the sample as well as their
the same household, paid/unpaid helper, financial status, responses to the core survey section. In addition, through
place of residence, and insurance cover). (ii) The second inductive statistics, the relationships between the variables
section concerns the state of health (duration treatment of were examined. The statistical program IBM SPSS v.22.0
musculoskeletal health problems, taking medication for and Microsoft Office Excel were used for the analysis.
treatment of musculoskeletal health problems, duration of
taking medications for the treatment of musculoskeletal 3. Results
health problems, and severity of musculoskeletal health
problems). (iii) The third section concerns the perceived This study included 106 elderly people with musculoskeletal
social support (based on the Multidimensional Scale of diseases, of which 32 (30.2%) were men and 74 (69.8%)
Perceived Social Support, MSPSS) (Zimet et al., 1988). were women (Table 1).
The scale includes 12 questions (1 = Strongly disagree; According to Table 2, the survey participants had
to 7 = Strongly agree), which are divided into three sub- a mean age of 76.1 years with a standard deviation of
dimensions: (a) Support from significant other (1, 2, 5, and 7.9 years. The oldest respondent was 98 years old, while
10; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.876), (b) support from the family the youngest was 65. Furthermore, the average number of
(3, 4, 8 and 11; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.930), and (c) support children per participant was 1.8 (with a standard deviation
from friends (6, 7, 9, and 12; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.964). For of 1.0), with the lowest number of children being 0 and
the overall scale of perceived social support, the reliability the highest being 4. Furthermore, the average number of
index Cronbach’s alpha = 0.890. The score for each scale family members residing in the same household was 1.3
was calculated by finding the average of scores given to with a standard deviation of 1.2. The lowest number of
the questions in each section. The translation and cultural family members was 0 and the highest was 6. Finally, it was
adaptation of this scale into Greek was done by Theofilou found that 37 out of 106 people (34.9%) lived alone.
(2015). (iv) The fourth section concerns the pain self- Furthermore, 40.6% of the sample were married, 40.6%
efficacy (based on the Pain Self-efficacy Questionnaire) were widowed, 10.4% were single, and the remaining 8.4%
(Nicholas, 1989) of the respondents. This section contains of the sample were divorced.
10 questions (0 = Not at all sure, to 6 = Completely sure).
The scale score was determined by summing the scores As shown in Table 3, the majority of the sample, that
given to all questions in this section, with a total score is, 39.6% have an elementary education, while 23.6% have
range of 0–60 (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.945). The translation a high school education, 17.0% have an education from
and cultural adaptation of this scale into Greek was done lyceum, 11.3% have a higher education, and the remaining
by Theofilou et al. (2014). (v) The fifth and last section 8.5% have a post-high school education.
contains 18 questions (1 = Strongly disagree, to 6 = Strongly
agree) derived from the Health Locus of Control Scale Table 1: Gender
(MHLC) (Wallston et al., 1994). The questions in this
section can be sub-categorized into four sections: (a) Control Ν %
focus (internal) (1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 17, [6–36]; Cronbach’s Male 32 30.2
alpha = 0.762), (b) control focus (chance) (2, 4, 9, 11, 15, Female 74 69.8
16, [6–36]; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.793), (c) control focus Total 106 100.0
(physicians) (3, 5, 14, [3–18]; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.754), and
(d) control focus (other people) (7, 10, 18, [3–18]; Cronbach’s
alpha = 0.851). The score for each section was calculated by Table 2. Age, number of children, and number of family
members in the same household
adding up the questions included in each section.
The participants were informed about the purpose Minimum Maximum Μ SD
of the research as well as the absolute assurance of their Age 65.0 98.0 76.1 7.9
anonymity. They were also informed that their participation Number of children 0.0 4.0 1.8 1.0
was purely voluntary and they were allowed stop Number of family members 0.0 6.0 1.3 1.2
participating any time they wish. This study was conducted in the same household
in accordance with the ethical standards of the committee Abbreviations: M: Mean; SD: Standard deviation.

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2023) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.1412