{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nPopulation ageing is characterized by rising multimorbidity and multifaceted vulnerability. While vulnerability is inherently a biopsychosocial state, clinical research predominantly operationalizes risk through physical frailty phenotypes, constraining holistic geriatric care. Identifying the interplay across biological, functional, and psychosocial domains is essential for comprehensive risk evaluation.Objectives\n\nTo synthesize multidimensional factors associated with vulnerability and frailty in adults aged ≥65, categorizing cross-sectional correlates and prospective longitudinal predictors to inform multidimensional assessment.Methods\n\nFollowing PRISMA 2020 guidelines, systematic searches were conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (2020-2025). Independent reviewers performed screening, selection, extraction, and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal (PROSPERO: CRD420251039796).Results\n\nForty studies (22 cross-sectional, 17 cohort, 1 quasi-experimental) comprising 77,229 cumulative participant observations across community, outpatient, inpatient, and residential care settings were synthesized. Thirty-seven candidate determinants were mapped across five domains: biological/clinical, psychological, socioeconomic/relational, lifestyle, and self-care profile. Advanced age, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy were the most frequent clinical factors; prospective cohorts specifically linked high anticholinergic burden and functional dependence in complex activities to incident frailty. Depressive symptoms, cognitive decline, low education, financial strain, and social isolation consistently delineated vulnerable states.Conclusions\n\nVulnerability in older adults is a multifaceted construct requiring assessment tools that extend beyond isolated physical markers. Rather than a definitive feature set, these identified factors provide an evidence-based pool of candidate variables that may inform future risk-stratification and predictive modeling initiatives, supporting integrated, person-centered care.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de Évora, 7000-801 Évora, Portugal.",
    "Unidade Local de Saúde do Algarve (ULS Algarve), 8000-386 Faro, Portugal.",
    "Nursing Research Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon (CIDNUR), Escola Superior de Enfermagem da Universidade de Lisboa, 1600-096 Lisbon, Portugal.",
    "Escola Superior de Enfermagem São João de Deus, Universidade de Évora, 7000-811 Évora, Portugal.",
    "Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal."
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Helder Pino",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1632-6948"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ana Ramos",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4661-0731"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Cesar Fonseca",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6975-612X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Elisabete Alves",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7738-0887"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Anabela Coelho",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1750-1229"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xjgaj2n2h6hj.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/healthcare14203370",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704491",
  "id": "0xjgaj2n2h6hj",
  "issns": [
    "2227-9032"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940415",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2717|Frailty in Older Adults"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221167833",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704491?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13704491",
  "pmid": "42940415",
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xjgaj2n2h6hj.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:24Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42940415",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940415"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2717|Frailty in Older Adults",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Multidimensional Factors and Predictors of Vulnerability and Frailty in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.",
  "title_text": "Multidimensional Factors and Predictors of Vulnerability and Frailty in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xjgaj2n2h6hj",
  "venue": "Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)",
  "versions": []
}