ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1692042
This article is part of the Research TopicUnveiling the Mental Health Impact of Physical Decline in Older Adults: A Holistic ApproachView all 15 articles
The impact of frailty on quality of life among older adults in nursing homes: the mediating role of psychological resilience
Provisionally accepted
- Deyang People's Hospital, De Yang, China
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Background: As China's population ages, nursing homes are becoming increasingly important in the elderly care service system. However, older adults in nursing homes often face high health risks and challenges to their quality of life (QOL) due to advanced age, disability, and multiple coexisting illnesses. Frailty, as a multidimensional clinical syndrome associated with age, significantly affects the QOL of older adults. Objective: To investigate the mediating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between frailty and QOL among older adults in nursing homes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey method was employed, with 302 older adults residing in nursing homes in China from August to December 2022 selected as the study subjects. A questionnaire survey was conducted using a general information questionnaire, the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 25), and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and its PROCESS macro program. Results: Frailty among older adults in nursing homes significantly negatively predicted QOL (β = -0.224, p < 0.001), and psychological resilience partially mediated the relationship between frailty and QOL, accounting for 41.55% of the total effect. Frailty indirectly affects QOL by reducing psychological resilience (b = 0.131, 95% CI = [0.150, 0.050]). Conclusion: Psychological resilience is a key mediating variable between frailty and QOL. Enhancing the psychological resilience of older adults in nursing homes can help mitigate the negative impact of frailty on QOL, providing a theoretical basis and practical guidance for improving the QOL of older adults in nursing home.
Keywords: nursing home, older adults, Frailty, psychological resilience, Quality of Life
Received: 25 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Qing, Zhou, Zhou and Xu. 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: Jiquan Zhang, dyzhangjiquan@163.com
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