The coping strategies and social support features of the patients with vision impairment

Abstract

Objective To explore social support and coping style in patients with visual impairment.Methods 102 patients with visual impairment and 99 normal controls were evaluated by Social Support Rating Scale and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire.and the results of two groups were compared.Results The patients with visual impairment got significantly lower scores of perceived social support than that of the control group(sub-jective social support:22.30±1.63 vs 23.76±5.51,P<0.01;total score of social support:38.24±7.35 vs 41.36±6.65,P＜0.01).The patients with visual impairment got significantly lower scores of positive coping style than that of the control group.The mature coping style is positively correlated with social support in patients with visual impairment.Conclusion The patients with visual imlpairment have got relatively lower perceived social support and applied more unmature coping styles.The nurses should help the patients to improve their social support level and encourage them to use more made coping style. Key words: Visual impairment; Coping style; Social support