The association between loneliness and frailty among community-dwelling older adults in five European countries: a longitudinal study

Background: Loneliness is described as the subjective experience of unfulfilled personal and social needs, with emotional and social domains. Frailty is a state of vulnerability to stressors, which is often characterised by impairment in the physical, psychological and/or social domain.

Objective: This study aims to examine the bidirectional association between loneliness and frailty across the different domains.

Methods: The study included 1735 older adults from the Urban Health Centres Europe project. Loneliness was assessed using the six-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Frailty was assessed by the Tilburg Frailty Indicator. Multivariate linear regression and cross-lagged panel models were used to explore the associations between the social and emotional loneliness dimensions and overall, physical, psychological and social frailty.

Results: A bidirectional association existed between overall loneliness and overall frailty (loneliness to frailty: β = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.15; frailty to loneliness: β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.10). Higher levels of overall loneliness at baseline were associated with higher levels of psychological frailty at follow-up (β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.10). The reverse association was not significant. A bidirectional association existed between overall loneliness and social frailty (loneliness to social frailty: β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.10; social frailty to loneliness: β = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.09).

Conclusion: This study confirms the importance of addressing loneliness among older adults. Interventions that increase social support, exercise engagement and promote healthy behaviours may be effective in reducing the risk of frailty among older adults and simultaneously preventing loneliness.