The mediating effects of social support and depressive symptoms on activities of daily living and social frailty in older patients with chronic heart failure

To investigate the level of social frailty (SF) in older patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and examine the mediating role of social support and depressive symptoms between activities of daily living and SF. Using a convenience sampling method, 205 older patients with CHF were recruited from China between November 2021 and May 2022. Activities of daily living, social support, depressive symptoms, and SF were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The final model obtained a good fit. Activities of daily living in older patients with CHF were directly related to SF. The multiple mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between activities of daily living and SF was mediated by social support (effect: -0.010, 95% CI [-0.021, -0.003]) and depressive symptoms (effect: -0.011, 95% CI [-0.019, -0.005) separately, and serially (effect: -0.007, 95% CI [-0.012, -0.003). Social support and depressive symptoms are multiple mediating variables in the relationship between activities of daily living and SF. Activities of daily living can improve patients’ SF through social support and depressive symptoms.