Health-Promoting Behaviors and their Associations with Frailty, Depression, and Social Support in Thai Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Abstract

Background: As the global population ages, including Thailand, health-promoting behaviors (HPBs) have emerged as critical challenges affecting the well-being of community-dwelling older adults. This situation calls for a deeper understanding of the modifiable protective factors involved. The current study aimed to examine the associations between frailty, depression, social support, health literacy (HL), and HPBs among community-dwelling older adults in Thailand.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 250 older adults was employed. We collected using validated questionnaires-including Tilburg Frailty Indicator, Thai Geriatric Depression Scale, Social Support Scale, Health Literacy Scale, and Health Promoting Behaviors Scale. We analyzed using descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple linear regression.

Results: This study involved a total of 250 community-dwelling older adults, with a mean age of 70.41 years. The participants had a mean frailty score of 6.78±1.95, indicating that most were classified as frail (score ≥5) based on the Tilburg Frailty Indicator. They also reported no significant depressive symptoms (3.80±2.62), moderate levels of social support (36.70±4.20), poor health literacy (33.15±2.71), and moderate health-promoting behaviors (101.19±7.67). Health literacy, social support, frailty, depression, and comorbidity conditions were significant predictors of health-promoting behaviors, collectively explaining 80.5% of the variance.

Conclusion: These findings emphasize that improved HL, greater social support, reduced frailty, and lower depression scores were associated with healthier behaviors in older adults. Multidisciplinary healthcare teams should consider these factors when designing their intervention strategies to gain a more comprehensive understanding and improve health outcomes.