This study suggested a nonlinear association between perceived social support and fear of disease progression in stroke patients, with an exploratory change point at a perceived social support score of 67 that requires validation in larger multicenter and prospective studies.
Stroke patients in this sample reported a mean fear of disease progression score of 30.34.
Higher perceived social support was independently associated with lower fear of disease progression in the hierarchical linear regression model.
Unemployed participants had lower fear of progression scores than employed participants.
Severe dependence in activities of daily living was associated with higher fear of progression compared with independence.
Restricted cubic spline analysis showed evidence of a nonlinear association between perceived social support and fear of progression.
Exploratory piecewise regression identified an estimated change point at a perceived social support score of 67.
Below the change point of 67, higher perceived social support was strongly associated with lower fear of progression; at or above 67 the association was not significant.
Unemployment and severe dependence were identified as independent factors associated with fear of progression, which may inform psychosocial assessment.
This study surveyed 300 stroke patients about how much they fear their illness getting worse and how much social support they feel they have from family, friends and others. Patients who felt more supported generally had less fear of disease progression. The relationship was not a straight line. Among patients with lower perceived support (scores below about 67), each additional point of support was linked to noticeably lower fear. Above that point, extra support was not clearly linked to further reductions, although the estimate was imprecise. Patients who were severely dependent on others for daily activities had higher fear, while unemployed patients had somewhat lower fear scores than employed ones. This research suggests that people with low perceived social support and high dependence may be groups worth attention when assessing the psychological needs of stroke patients. However, the study captured one point in time at a limited set of sites, so it cannot show that support causes less fear. The score of 67 was exploratory and needs confirmation in larger, multicenter, prospective studies.
Qi Y, Yang Y, Liu X, Yang X, Ma S, Zheng Y, et al.. (2026). Nonlinear association between perceived social support and fear of disease progression in stroke patients: a cross-sectional study.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1954246