Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myasthenia gravis (MG), a rare autoimmune neuromuscular disorder, imposes long-term physical and psychological burdens on patients due to its chronicity, recurrence, and limited societal awareness. Social support plays a critical role in mitigating disease-related stressors, yet its status and determinants remain understudied in Chinese MG populations. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the current status of social support in patients with myasthenia gravis and analyze the related factors. METHODS: A total of 153 patients with myasthenia gravis were investigated using a general information questionnaire, social support scale, and illness perception scale. One-way analysis of variance and multiple linear regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The total score on the social support scale was 37.69 ± 5.10 points, the objective support score was 7.51 ± 1.92 points, the subjective support score was 24.80 ± 2.97 points, and the support utilization score was 5.38 ± 1.88 point. The results of multiple linear regression showed that marital status, situation of children, number of children, duration of illness, disease severity (MGFA class), personal control, treatment control, and emotional representations in illness perception were the influencing factors of social support. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that disease severity is an influencing factor of social support. The level of social support among patients with myasthenia gravis is moderate, indicating a need for improvement in the current social support system. It is suggested that attention should be paid to the level of social support for patients with myasthenia gravis and related security systems should be established for social support to have a role in promoting health.