Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 12;19(24):16683.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192416683.

The Relationship between Social Frailty and Depressive Symptoms in the Elderly: A Scoping Review

Xiaojing Qi  1 , Jie Li  1
Affiliations

The Relationship between Social Frailty and Depressive Symptoms in the Elderly: A Scoping Review

Xiaojing Qi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Various studies have highlighted the correlation between social frailty and depressive symptoms in the elderly. However, evidence of how these two domains influence each other is not clear. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the current literature examining social frailty and depressive symptoms.

Method: We conducted a scoping review allowing for the inclusion of multiple methodologies to examine the extent and range of this research topic.

Result: The search initially yielded 617 results, 14 of which met the inclusion criteria. Five studies were identified from China, six were identified from Japan, two were identified from Korea, one was identified from Ghana, and one was from Asia. The evidence reviewed indicated that five studies met category 5 criteria, and the others met level 3 criteria. The findings from these studies showed that there is a significant relationship between social frailty and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: This scoping review shows that worse social frailty contributes to a significant degree of depression. Further research on screening social frailty and possible interventions in community and medical settings to prevent the elderly from developing depressive symptoms is needed.

Keywords: depressive symptoms; scoping review; social frailty; the elderly.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lyness J.M., King D.A., Conwell Y., Duberstein P.R., Eberly S., Sorensen S.M., Caine E.D. Self-rated health, depression, and one-year health outcomes in older primary care patients. Am. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry. 2004;12:110–113. doi: 10.1097/00019442-200401000-00014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cuijpers P., Vogelzangs N., Twisk J., Kleiboer A., Li J., Penninx B.W. Differential mortality rates in major and subthreshold depression: Meta-analysis of studies that measured both. Br. J. Psychiatry. 2013;202:22–27. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.112.112169. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mathers C.D., Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006;3:e442. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pek K., Chew J., Lim J.P., Yew S., Tan C.N., Yeo A., Ding Y.Y., Lim W.S. Social Frailty Is Independently Associated with Mood, Nutrition, Physical Performance, and Physical Activity: Insights from a Theory-Guided Approach. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2020;17:4239. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124239. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Makizako H., Shimada H., Tsutsumimoto K., Lee S., Doi T., Nakakubo S., Hotta R., Suzuki T. Social Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults as a Risk Factor for Disability. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2015;16:1003–1007. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2015.08.023. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources