How social isolation, loneliness and frailty play roles in all-cause death in later life? Global evidence from cohort studies across 31 countries.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social isolation, loneliness and frailty commonly emerge in later life, yet understanding of how their interrelationships relate to all-cause death remains limited. This longitudinal study aimed to examine the associations between social isolation and loneliness and risk of all-cause death and to examine the mediating role of frailty in these associations. METHODS: This study analysed data from four large international cohorts (Health and Retirement Study, China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and Mexican Health and Ageing Study) covering 31 countries. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association..