ArticleBMC public health2024
The role of frailty in the relationships between social relationships and health outcomes: a longitudinal study.
Article in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Frailty and Social Isolation of Elderly Prostate Cancer Patients: A Chain Mediating and Network Analysis of Illness Perception and Acceptance.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Joint trajectories of physical frailty and social relationships and associated long-term care needs among Japanese community-dwelling older adults: a 6-year longitudinal study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Rethinking health-care systems to tackle social isolation and frailty.The Lancet. Public health · 2026Review
- Longitudinal bidirectional associations among sarcopenia risk, social isolation, and frailty in Chinese older adults using an item response theory-derived frailty index.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Associations between reproductive factors and frailty in middle-aged and older women: evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- The temporal sequence and reciprocal relationships of frailty, social isolation and loneliness in older adults across 21 years.Age and ageing · 2024Article
- Internet use and self-rated health among Chinese older adults: the role of social engagement and social support.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSocially isolated older adults incur increased risks of adverse health outcomes, though the strength of this association is unclear. We examined whether changes in physical frailty moderated the associations between changes in social relationships and changes in health outcomes among older adults.
methodsThis longitudinal study is based on three waves of the FRéLE study among 1643 Canadian community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older over 2 years. We performed latent growth curve modelling (LGMs) to assess changes with the assumption of missing not at random, adjusting for time-invariant covariates. We used the latent moderated structural equations (LMS) to test the interactions in LGMs. Social relationships were measured by social participation, social networks, and social support from different social ties. Frailty was assessed using the five components of the phenotype of frailty.
resultsThe results revealed that changes in frailty moderated changes in social participation (β = 3.229, 95% CI: 2.212, 4.245), social contact with friends (β = 4.980, 95% CI: 3.285, 6.675), and social support from friends (β = 2.406, 95% CI: 1.894, 2.917), children (β = 2.957, 95% CI: 1.932, 3.982), partner (β = 4.170, 95% CI: 3.036, 5.305) and extended family (β = 6.619, 95% CI: 2.309, 10.923) with changes in cognitive function and depressive symptoms, but not with chronic diseases. These results highlight the beneficial role of social relationships in declining depressive symptoms and improving cognitive health among older adults experiencing increases in frailty.
conclusionsThe findings suggest that changes in social support have a protective and compensatory role in decreasing depressive symptoms and enhancing cognitive health among older adults with increasing frailty. Public health policy and strategies should consider the impact of social support on multiple health outcomes among older adults with increasing frailty. Further experimental studies and interventions are warranted to extend findings on the relationships between social relationships and health outcomes, targeting frail older adults. Future studies may also consider other health-related risk factors that may impact the associations between social relationships and health outcomes among older adults.
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