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REVIEW article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Health Technology Implementation
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1495135
Digital Health Tools Applications in Frail Older Adults -A Review Article
Provisionally accepted
Natthanaphop Isaradech 1
Wachiranun Sirikul 1,2,3*- 1 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
- 2 Center of Data Analytics and Knowledge Synthesis for Health Care, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
- 3 Environmental and Occupational Medicine Excellence Center, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Frailty is a common degenerative condition highly prevalent in adults over 65 years old. A frail person has a higher risk of morbidities and mortality when exposed to health-related stressors. However, frailty is a reversible state when it is early diagnosed. Studies have shown that frail people who participated in an exercise prescription have a greater chance to transition from frail to fit. Additionally, with a rapid advancement of technology, a vast majority of studies are supporting evidence regarding the digital health tools application on frail population in recent years.Methods: This review comprehensively summarizes and discusses about technology application in frail persons to capture the current knowledge gaps and propose future research directions to support additional research in this field. We used PubMed to search literature (2012-2023) with pre-specified terms. Studies required older adults using digital tools for frailty comparison, association, or prediction and we excluded non-English studies and those lacking frailty comparison or digital tool use.Results: Our review found potential etiognostic factors in trunk, gait, upper-extremity, and physical activity parameters for diagnosing frailty using digital tools in older adults.Studies suggest exercise improves frailty status, emphasizing the need for integrated therapeutic platforms and personalized prevention recommendations.
Keywords: Digital health tools, Frailty, Geriatrics, prevention, Older adults Digital Health Tools, older adults
Received: 12 Sep 2024; Accepted: 12 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Isaradech and Sirikul. 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:
Wachiranun Sirikul, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.