The longitudinal relationship between loneliness, social isolation, and frailty in older adults in England: a prospective analysis

Summary: Background: It is estimated that about 10% of people aged 65 and older are frail. Loneliness and social isolation are linked to increased mortality and poorer functional capacity. We assessed trends in frailty status associated with loneliness and social isolation over 14 years in a representative sample of English older adults. Methods: In this longitudinal study, we used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), which was designed to recruit a representative sample of adults aged 50 years and older living in private households in England. We analysed Waves 2–8 (covering June, 2004, to June, 2017). Frailty was defined using the frailty index, analysed continuously and as pre-specified categories, to categorise individuals as being non-frail (≤0·08), pre-frail (>0·08 to