The relationship among socioeconomic status, social support and frailty: is there a gender difference?

Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship among socioeconomic status, social support and frailty, and its gender difference. Methods: Education and income were combined to indicate the socioeconomic status. The Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) was used to measure the level of social support. Frailty was measured by the FRAIL Scale. Mediation effects were analyzed using the PROCESS 4.1 macro in SPSS version 26.0. Results: Among the 936 participants, socioeconomic status had a direct effect on frailty (effect = - 0.088, 95% CI: - 0.142, - 0.021). Social support was an indirect pathway for the relationship between socioeconomic status and frailty (effect = - 0.011, 95% CI: - 0.023, - 0.003), accounting for 11.11% of the total effect. Stratified by gender, we found that the total, direct and indirect effects of socioeconomic status on frailty were significant only in the female subsample. Conclusion: Overall, there was a significant association between socioeconomic status and frailty among the rural older adults, and social support mediated this relationship. However, there were gender differences in the association among socioeconomic status, social support and frailty. Specifically, the correlation between socioeconomic status and frailty and the mediating role of social support were found only in the female subsample. The public health sector should focus on the rural older adults with low socioeconomic status and lack of social support, taking targeted interventions to avoid and delay the occurrence and progress of frailty.