The aim of this study was to determine the influence of perceived social support on the daily activities and depression of nursing home residents with impaired vision.

The study comprised 120 subjects above the age of 60, of whom half were recruited from a nursing home; 30 subjects had impaired vision. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was utilised alongside Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ) was used to measure the overall support as well as emotional and instrumental support, magnitude of the network and its availability.

The analyses of variance revealed significant differences between institutionalised elderly people with and without impaired vision and the control group as regards functional dependency (F=14.51; p<0.001), perceived instrumental support (F=7.34; p<0.001) and availability of social network (F=4.86; p<0.01). The statistical analyses using the Sobel test did not confirm the hypothesis on the mediation role of social support between depression and the IADL. The multiple regression analysis revealed the importance of this variable for daily activities, albeit only in the control group. Curiously, the obtained results show that the stronger the support network perceived, the lowest the ability on the part of the elderly to function independently.

The study did not confirm the influence of impaired vision on depression experienced by institutionalised elderly people. Depression treatment may reduce excess disability associated with impaired vision while adequate level of instrumental support and the social network availability positively affect the daily activities and general adaptation in old age.