Gender differences in the relationship between social support and subjective health among elderly persons in Japan

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of social support with subjective health by gender, and gender differences in the pathway from social support to subjective health. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 754 noninstitutionalized elderly men and women aged 65 years and older living in a community in Japan. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews. The relationship between social support and subjective health was studied using multiple regression analyses stratified by gender. RESULTS: Mean social support score was significantly higher in women (4.3 +/- 1.6) than in men (3.8 +/- 1.8). Among elderly men, significant positive association between the level of social support and good subjective health was observed, but not among elderly women. The odds ratio for having good subjective health was 2.45 (95% confidence interval 1.02-6.43) for men who had a high level of social support compared with low level of social support. The direct effect of social support on subjective health was much larger in men (82.6%) than in women (23%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that social support may be a beneficial promoter of subjective health in men than in women. The relationship between changes in the amount of social support and subsequently subjective health should be explored further.