School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Gerontologist. 2024 Oct 1;64(10). doi: 10.1093/geront/gnae114.
Social frailty is an emerging concept characterized by state of vulnerability due to the lack or absence of social resources that enable health and well-being, particularly among older people. However, there is no consensus on how to accurately measure and assess social frailty, given the broad coverage of social dimensions affecting older individuals. This scoping review aimed to identify the existing tools and scales used to measure social frailty in older people.
A scoping review methodology was employed. Articles published between January 2014 and April 2024 were searched in 6 electronic databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest, Scopus, SocIndex, and CINAHL. The scoping review followed a 5-stage process by Arksey and O'Malley and adhered to the guidelines provided by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews.
Nine social frailty tools were identified across the 58 papers included in this review. The individual question item commonly used in the scales were classified into main categories based on their conceptual characteristics and intentions. The most common individual questionnaire constructs used to measure social frailty included financial status, social resources, social behaviors and activities, and sense of purpose. The reviewed tools varied in terms of their robustness and the process of scale development.
Our review suggested the development of a standardized, psychometrically tested, and accurate screening tool to screen social frailty status. An accurate social frailty assessment can inform the development of useful interventions, which also has implications in preventing the development of physical frailty.
社会脆弱性是一个新兴概念，其特征是由于缺乏或缺乏使健康和福祉成为可能的社会资源而处于脆弱状态，尤其是在老年人中。然而，由于影响老年人的社会层面广泛，如何准确衡量和评估社会脆弱性尚未达成共识。本范围综述旨在确定用于衡量老年人社会脆弱性的现有工具和量表。
采用范围综述方法。在 6 个电子数据库（PubMed、PsycINFO、ProQuest、Scopus、SocIndex 和 CINAHL）中搜索了 2014 年 1 月至 2024 年 4 月期间发表的文章。该范围综述遵循 Arksey 和 O'Malley 的 5 阶段流程，并遵循系统评价和元分析扩展的首选报告项目提供的指南。
在纳入本综述的 58 篇论文中，确定了 9 种社会脆弱性工具。量表中常用的单个问题项根据其概念特征和意图分为主要类别。用于衡量社会脆弱性的最常见的单个问卷结构包括财务状况、社会资源、社会行为和活动以及目标感。所审查的工具在稳健性和量表开发过程方面存在差异。
我们的综述表明需要开发一种标准化、心理测量学测试和准确的筛选工具来筛选社会脆弱性状况。准确的社会脆弱性评估可以为制定有用的干预措施提供信息，这也对预防身体脆弱性的发展具有影响。
