Impact of social support from family and friends on the perceived general health of patients diagnosed with Long-COVID

Mario Samper-Pardo, Sandra León-Herrera, Bárbara Oliván-Blázquez, Alejandra Aguilar-Latorre, Fátima Méndez-López, David Lerma-Irureta, Rosa Magallón-Botaya

Keywords: Long-Covid; social support; general health

Background:
The Long-COVID pathology is still unknown and enigmatic. Many of these patients refer to the discomfort caused by both the uncertainty and the grieving process they suffer when comparing their capacities before and after infection. In this context, it is estimated that social support can reinforce the patient's self-perception of her general health status.

Research questions:
Delve into the self-perceived general health of Long-COVID patients according to the social support of family and friends in relation to their pathology.

Method:
A cross-sectional study was carried out. The sample is made up of 100 patients diagnosed with Long-COVID, recruited by Primary Health Care family doctors at the beginning of 2022. The main variable was the general health perceived by the patients themselves, one of the dimensions included in The Short Form -36 Health Survey (SF-36). Age, sex, and social support perceived by the person were used as predictive variables. The latter was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) questionnaire. Descriptive, correlation and linear regression analyses were performed.

Results:
Positive correlations were obtained between perceived general health and social support, age and gender. Linear regression showed that greater social support (b=0.355, p=0.001), female gender (b=9.016, p=0.028), and older age (b=0.427, p=0.017) were predictors of better perceived general health.

Conclusions:
At older ages, the female gender and the social support of family and friends are elements with the capacity to favourably modify the Long-COVID patient's self-perception of their general health.

Points for discussion:
What can we do to enhance social support of these types of patients?

How to stimulate the use of community resources?