Apoio social e atividade física de idosos: revisão sistemática de estudos observacionais

Objective: To analyze the relationship between social support (SS) and physical activity (PA) in older adults through a systematic review of observational studies. Methods: Searches were carried out in Scopus, PsycInfo, LILACS and MEDLINE electronic databases via PubMed. The Mesh headings used were “social support”, “physical activity” and “aged”. The review included observational studies with a sample of older adults that assessed SS and PA using quantitative instruments and that had been published in the last 10 years with fully online access and available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, intervention protocols, construction or validation of instruments, and studies that assessed SS in relation to behaviors other than PA were excluded. Results: The search yielded 1311 articles and, after the selection process, 9 were included in this review. With regard to the type of study, 8 were cross-sectional and 1 was a cohort, and the samples were predominately composed of women. The studies used different instruments, types and sources for the assessment of social support and assessed different domains of physical activity. The studies found that the greater the perceived social support, the greater the level of physical activity. Conclusion: There is a positive relationship between social support and physical activity in older adults, thus emphasizing the importance of its instrumental function and of the different sources, such as family, friends and health care professionals, for the promotion of active behaviors in this population.