Factors Influencing the Stages of Frailty among Korean Older Adults Focusing on Objective and Subjective Social Isolation

Abstract

Background: Although many studies have investigated the factors influencing frailty, studies on factors affecting transition between frailty stages are insufficient. This study was conducted to identify factors influencing the stages of frailty in Korean older adults, focusing on objective and subjective social isolation. Methods: This study analyzed the data of 10,041 older adults from the 2017 National Survey of Older Koreans. Two multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the factors influencing the frailty stages.Results: Among Korean older adults, 6% were in a frail stage, and 42.5% were in the pre-frail stage. The progression to the pre-frail stage was influenced by sociodemographic and health-related characteristics and by objective and subjective social isolation. Contrastingly, the transition from the pre-frail to frail stage was influenced by factors including objective social isolation, declining hearing, and lack of regular exercise.Conclusions: In the development of future interventions, researchers should consider differences in factors that influence the stages of frailty among Korean older adults. Interventions that help older people maintain existing social relationships or connect to new social networks can delay the transition from the pre-frail to frail stages.