SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1679832
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Costs of Caring for Older AdultsView all 3 articles
Real experiences and care needs of frail older patients: a systematic review of qualitative studies
Provisionally accepted
- 1West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2West China Tianfu Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Objective: By conducting a meta-synthesis of qualitative research, this study evaluates the real experiences and care needs of frail older patients, providing valuable references and insights for care service providers, policymakers, and medical researchers in developing intervention programs. Design: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from the establishment of the databases to August 25, 2024. Setting: The real experiences and care needs of frail older patients are gradually becoming the focus of social attention. Qualitative research is of great significance for improving the quality of care services for such patients in the future. Outcome measures: The quality of the studies included was appraised using the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality Assessment of Qualitative Research criteria. Data extraction was performed using NVivo (v14), and results were synthesized using a meta-synthesis approach. Results: 511 frail older patients were included in 15 studies. Three main themes were identified: the negative impact of frailty on the physical, psychological, and behavioral aspects of older patients; positive attitudes toward the current situation among frail older patients; and the multidimensional care needs of frail older patients. Conclusion: Frail older adults face multidimensional challenges in physiology, psychology, and behavior, and have care needs in areas such as professional services and social support.
Keywords: Frailty, older adults, experience, needs, qualitative research, meta-synthesis
Received: 05 Aug 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Peng, He, Luo, Kang, Wang and Tan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yongqiong Tan, 1125865478@qq.com
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