As the number of healthy older adults increases, robustness has emerged as an important concept to describe individual differences in adaptability and health outcomes. However, the concept remains inconsistently defined across healthcare disciplines, necessitating conceptual clarification. This study aims to conduct an evolutionary concept analysis of robustness in older adults. An evolutionary concept analysis method was conducted. Four healthcare databases (PubMed, CINAHL Complete, EMBASE, Scopus) and Google Scholar were systematically searched without publication year restrictions, excluding gray literature. Data were extracted and analyzed to identify attributes, antecedents, consequences, and related terms. Analysis of 31 studies revealed three attributes: multidimensional vitality, resilient stability, and functional autonomy. Antecedents include socioeconomic resources, beneficial lifestyle behaviors, and supportive social networks, while consequences encompass enhanced quality of life, reduced healthcare needs, and decreased mortality. Comparison with related terms confirmed robustness as distinct from successful aging, non-frailty, intrinsic capacity, and resilience. This study established conceptual boundaries for robustness, enabling healthcare professionals to move beyond age-based approaches toward individualized assessment and care strategies, providing a theoretical framework for developing measurement tools and implementing personalized interventions.
Yang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.