La investigación sobre soledad y redes de apoyo social en las personas mayores: una revisión sistemática en Europa

e202301006

Autores/as

  • Lorena P. Gallardo-Peralta Facultad de Trabajo Social, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Madrid. España.
  • Esteban Sánchez-Moreno Instituto Universitario de Desarrollo y Cooperación (IUDC-UCM), Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Madrid. España.
  • Vicente Rodríguez Rodríguez Instituto de Economía, Geografía y Demografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Madrid. España.
  • María García Martín Instituto Universitario de Desarrollo y Cooperación (IUDC-UCM), Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Madrid. España.

Palabras clave:

Soledad, Apoyo social, Envejecimiento, Adulto mayor, Salud mental

Resumen

FUNDAMENTOS // Durante el proceso de envejecimiento es frecuente la pérdida de relaciones familiares y sociales, lo cual condiciona la soledad. Además, la actual pandemia de la COVID-19 ha generado más limitaciones en las relaciones sociales de este grupo de edad y ha aumentado los factores de riesgo para desencadenar sentimientos de soledad. Este trabajo tuvo el objetivo de examinar cómo se había estudiado la soledad en las personas mayores en Europa en los últimos diez años. Se propusieron como objetivos específicos:
i) describir los aspectos metodológicos; ii) identificar las escalas o preguntas para la valoración de la soledad; iii) cuáles eran las principales variables o dimensiones que se relacionaban con la soledad en la vejez, priorizando el rol de las redes de apoyo social.
MÉTODOS // Se encontraron 1.591 artículos en total en las plataformas digitales WoS y Scopus. Tras la valoración inicial de los títulos y resúmenes, lectura de texto completo y revisión de los criterios establecidos, al final se incluyeron en la revisión sistemática
42 artículos científicos.
RESULTADOS // Los países que más estudios habían realizado eran Países Bajos y España, en su mayoría las investigaciones eran cuantitativas y utilizaban las escalas De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS) y University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Las variables más analizadas fueron: estado civil, estructura del hogar, redes de apoyo social, participación social, depresión, problemas de salud, comorbilidad y funcionalidad física.
CONCLUSIONES // Se confirma el interés científico por estudiar la soledad, con un énfasis central en las redes de apoyo social, en las personas mayores en Europa y abordar estratégicamente la soledad como un problema de Salud Pública.

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25-01-2023

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1.
Gallardo-Peralta LP, Sánchez-Moreno E, Rodríguez Rodríguez V, García Martín M. La investigación sobre soledad y redes de apoyo social en las personas mayores: una revisión sistemática en Europa: e202301006. Rev Esp Salud Pública [Internet]. 25 de enero de 2023 [citado 9 de mayo de 2024];97:20 páginas. Disponible en: https://ojs.sanidad.gob.es/index.php/resp/article/view/86