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
. 2025 May 13;25(1):329.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-05971-0.

Social frailty in community-dwelling older adults: a scoping review

Cuiting Huang  1   2 , Wachiranun Sirikul  3   4 , Nida Buawangpong  5
Affiliations

Social frailty in community-dwelling older adults: a scoping review

Cuiting Huang et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The rising global population of older adults has increased attention on social frailty, significantly affecting physical, cognitive, and mental health.

Objectives: This review systematically examines social frailty in community-dwelling older adults by exploring theoretical frameworks, measurement tools, determinants, health outcomes, and potential interventions.

Methods: A scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines was conducted with searches across PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL databases, covering studies up to November 4, 2024. Of the 2371 articles, 42 were included in the synthesis. The review focused on community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above, aiming to understand the role of social frailty in this population's health and well-being.

Results: The findings revealed that social frailty is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon determined by physical function decline, cognitive impairment, and depression. It is also linked to adverse outcomes, including increased risks of cognitive decline, depression, disabilities, and mortality. The growing evidence underscores the need for targeted interventions to disrupt the cycle of worsening frailty. The variability in existing measurement tools, limiting their broad applicability, suggested a need for standardization and cross-cultural validation. We identified potential intervention strategies, including multicomponent physical exercise, social networking enhancement, and digital health interventions, but only one RCT specifically examined a robotic pet intervention targeting social frailty, and its findings were not significant.

Conclusion: Social frailty measurement tools are based on two primary frameworks: one grounded in the Deficit Accumulation Model, suited for secondary data analysis and prospective or periodic screening, and the other based on the Social Needs Fulfillment Theory, which uses brief-item tools but requires validation in specific contexts. Social frailty is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among community-dwelling older adults. The studies employed physical workouts, social networking, and digital health interventions, showed a significant improvement in social engagement. However, none specifically aimed at reducing social frailty, underscoring the urgent need for the specific interventions and management for social frailty.

Keywords: Community-dwelling older adults; Health outcomes; Measurements; Scoping review; Social frailty.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics declaration: Not applicable. Consent to publish: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the selection process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hirota N, Okada H, Okamura N. The effectiveness in preventing frailty of exercise intervention provided by community pharmacists to older persons with chronic conditions: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial. BMC Geriatr. 2023;23(1):225. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gobbens RJ, Luijkx KG, Wijnen-Sponselee MT, Schols JM. In search of an integral conceptual definition of frailty: opinions of experts. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2010;11(5):338–43. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bunt S, Steverink N, Olthof J, Schans C, Hobbelen J. Social frailty in older adults: a scoping review. Eur J Ageing. 2017;14(3):323–34. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bessa B, Ribeiro O, Coelho T. Assessing the social dimension of frailty in old age: A systematic review. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2018;78:101–13. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ma L, Sun F, Tang Z. Social frailty is associated with physical functioning, cognition, and depression, and predicts mortality. J Nutr Health Aging. 2018;22(8):989–95. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources