Abstract
Objective
To explore the mediating effects of perceived social support between frailty and self-perceived burden (SPB) in elderly patients with diabetes and to provide a theoretical basis for reducing that burden.
Methods
A total of 169 elderly patients with diabetes who were hospitalised in the endocrinology department of a third-class hospital in Wuxi between May 2020 and July 2022 were included in this study using the convenience sampling method. Patients were assessed by the general information questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Tilburg frailty inventory (TFI), the Self-Perceived Burden Scale (SPBS) and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). The SPSS 22.0 software was used for Pearson’s correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Model four of the SPSS PROCESS was used for mediating the effect analysis.
Results
The SPBS of elderly patients with diabetes was positively correlated with the TFI (P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with the PSSS (P < 0.01). The results of the Bootstrap test showed that the mediating effect of the PSSS on the relationship between the TFI and the SPBS in elderly patients with diabetes was 0.296 (95% CI: 0.007, 0.066), and the mesomeric effect accounted for 17.3% of the total effect.
Conclusion
The debilitation of elderly patients with diabetes can be reduced by decreasing their SPB through perceived social support. This can be achieved through comprehensive interventions by nurses.
Data Sharing Statement
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article.
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
This study was conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. This study was conducted with approval from the Ethics Committee of Nanjing Medical University. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Disclosure
Ming-Zhu Chen and Xiao-Lei Chen are co-first authors for this study. Qin Xu and Xiao-Dong Cao are co-corresponence authors for this study. The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.