The impact of digitally-enabled interventions on frailty and other age-related outcomes - Systematic review and...

Frailty is defined as a clinically recognised state of increased vulnerability, reflecting a decline in an individual's psychological and physical reserves. Digitally-enabled interventions are increasingly utilised to monitor and support the health of older adults. Evidence on the effectiveness of digitally-enabled interventions in reducing frailty is limited. This systematic review aimed to investigate the types of digitally-enabled interventions tested, with what goals with respect to frailty, and the resulting outcomes.

Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, PsychInfo and Embase were searched from time of origin until July 2024. Peer-reviewed RCTs assessing the impact of digitally-enabled interventions on older adults were included. Outcome measures explored were frailty, cognitive status, mental health, quality of life, adherence and usability. Data was extracted independently by two people using Covidence platform. Narrative synthesis was performed for all studies and meta-analysis was performed for outcomes reported in four or more studies.

From 4476 titles and abstracts screened, 17 studies were included following full text review. Overall, 12 studies included exercises as a component or the sole form of intervention. The mean duration of intervention was 4.04(SD2.56) months. Mean adherence to the intervention was 59% which was lower in exercise-based intervention. The most and least reported frailty-specific outcome was walking speed (n = 8) and self-reported exhaustion level (n = 2). Meta-analysis showed non-exercise-based interventions showed significant improvements in SPPB. There was no statistically significant change in Timed-up and Go and handgrip strength. Narrative synthesis indicates there was insufficient evidence to evaluate the impact of digital interventions on frailty, frailty-specific outcomes, mental health, activities of daily living, health-related quality of life, sleep and cognition.

The findings suggest low technological readiness and adherence among digitally-enabled interventions for older adults. Narrative synthesis of overall frailty and outcome measures showed mixed results and limited evidence on the impact of digital interventions on frailty and outcomes.