A Systematic Review of Frailty Interventions in Community-Based Low and Middle-Income Settings

To synthesise evidence on the effectiveness of frailty interventions among prefrail and frail community-dwelling older adults living in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The four electronic databases, Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, Global Health, and APA PsycINFO, were searched until 25 September 2023. This review's protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022309998). There was no publication time or language restriction. Inclusion criteria included randomised controlled trials and other intervention types of frailty interventions that focussed on community-dwelling older adults (mean age of at least 60 years) with prefrail or frail living in LMICs. The meta-analysis could not be conducted because of the heterogeneity of frailty interventions.

This systematic review included fifteen studies: eleven were single-domain interventions (exercise, nutritional supplementation, and nurse home visits), and four were multidomain interventions (exercise plus nutrition and exercise plus mindfulness). Some evidence from high-quality studies showed that physical exercise interventions successfully addressed frailty.

This systematic review highlights the scarcity of evidence on frailty interventions in LMICs, making it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Additional research is needed to focus on specific types of interventions.