The Prevalence of Abuse and risk factors associated with elder abuse

Abstract

Abstract Background: elder abuse is a neglected problem and many cases remain unreported. This study aimed to identify types of elder abuse and to investigate its associated risk factors. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on people over 60 years old in Ardabil, Iran. Data were collected using elder abuse questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22, Descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression. The significance level was P < 0.05. Results: Among 500 participants, 377(75.4%) reported that they had experienced at least one type of abuse in the past year. The highest rate of elder abuse was observed regarding Emotional abuse (47.2%) and psychological abuse (40.8%), and the lowest rate was measured for ostracizing (15.4%) and physical abuse (12.4%). Result showed that elder abuse was significantly associated with Having a chronic illness and Number of children 1–4. Conclusions: Considering at least eight out of ten elderly people experienced on type of abuse. for the majority of the reported elder abuse cases at least two associated risk factors could be identified. Knowledge about these red flags and a multifaceted strategy are needed to identify and prevent elder abuse.