ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2023
Bidirectional Association Between Multimorbidity and Frailty and the Role of Depression in Older Europeans.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Independent and synergistic associations of sleep quality and frailty with cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a cross-sectional analysis in Chinese elderly population.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Comment on "A High Geriatric Depression Scale Score on Admission to Hospital Predicts a Worse Clinical Frailty Scale Score After Discharge".Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2026Article
- Physical frailty, depression and multimorbidity among older adults in Lima, Peru: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- The development of a situation-specific theory of dynamic interactions for multimorbid dyads in Chinese family culture.International journal of nursing sciences · 2026Article
- Immunosenescence as a driver of the transition from frailty to multimorbidity.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Polypharmacy and Potentially Inappropriate Medications in Adults ≥75 Years of Age by Dementia and Frailty Status: The ARIC Study.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2025Article
- Probable sarcopenia and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: exploring the role of frailty and comorbidities.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Article
- The Mediating Role of Activities of Daily Living in the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Multidimensional Frailty in the Elderly with Multimorbidity.Clinical interventions in aging · 2025Article
- The association between multimorbidity patterns and physical frailty among middle-aged and older community-dwelling adults: the mediating role of depressive symptoms.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association between frailty and physical-psychological multimorbidity in middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults: a longitudinal study in Chinese middle-aged and older adults.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Differential interplay between multimorbidity patterns and frailty and their mutual mediation effect on mortality in old age.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2024Article
- Depression and Plasma pTauGerontology & geriatric medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough previous studies have reported an association between multimorbidity and frailty, its direction and mechanism remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the direction of this association, as well as the role of depression among older Europeans.
methodsWe used a cross-lagged panel design to evaluate the temporal relationship between multimorbidity and frailty and the role of depression. Multimorbidity status was assessed by the self-reporting of 14 chronic diseases. Frailty was assessed based on the frailty phenotype. The European-Depression Scale (EURO-D) was used to assess depression.
resultsThere was a bidirectional relationship between frailty and multimorbidity. More severe multimorbidity predicted greater frailty (β = 0.159; p < .001) and vice versa (β = 0.107; p < .001). All paths from multimorbidity to frailty were stronger than the paths from frailty to multimorbidity (b1-a1: β = 0.051; p < .001). Likewise, early multimorbidity change was a significant predictive factor for late frailty change (β = 0.064; p < .001) and vice versa (β = 0.048; p < .001). Depression in Wave 5 (T5) mediated the association between frailty in Wave 4 (T4) and multimorbidity in Wave 6 (T6; indirect effect: β = 0.004; bootstrap 95% confidence interval: 0.003, 0.006).
conclusionsA positive, bidirectional association was observed between multimorbidity and frailty. Depression may be a potential cause of an increased risk of multimorbidity later in life in frail older adults. Early monitoring of frailty and depression may slow the progression of multimorbidity, thereby interrupting the vicious cycle.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.