Associations between social capital, health status, and physical and social frailty among older adults: A cross-sectional analysis of the Gunma aging cohort

• Associations between cognitive social capital and frailty were examined. • No clear overall association was found with physical frailty. • Associations involving health-related factors were observed. • Associations with social frailty were model-dependent. Social capital refers to the resources that individuals can access through their membership in networks or groups. As the relationship of social capital with older adults’ health is gaining increasing attention, this cross-sectional study investigated the associations between cognitive social capital, one dimension of social capital, and physical and social frailty, and explored the indirect associations with health status in older adults. The participants were community-dwelling older adults in Japan, and data were collected at community centers and public halls. The analyses examined the associations between social capital and frailty, accounting for health status and adjusting for age, sex, and other covariates. Supplementary models included physical activity and nutritional status. For physical frailty, the indirect association through health status was significant (β = -0.035, p = 0.009), while neither the direct (β = -0.028, p = 0.443) nor the total association (β = -0.063, p = 0.105) were statistically significant. For social frailty, both the indirect association (β = -0.026, p = 0.011) and total association (β = -0.088, p = 0.020) were statistically significant, while the direct association was not (β = -0.062, p = 0.097). In supplementary analyses, the total association with social frailty was no longer statistically significant, whereas the indirect association through health status remained significant. These findings indicate that social capital is associated with physical and social frailty, with health status statistically accounting for part of these associations.