How common is elder abuse? A cross-sectional study in urban slums of Siliguri, India

Abstract

Background: Elder abuse is still underreported and unacknowledged despite being a serious social concern linked to significantly higher rates of hospital admission and mortality. Abuse has a profound effect on the victims' physical, mental, and overall quality of life. Abuse can worsen an elderly person's preexisting chronic and incapacitating disease, increasing their dependence, vulnerability, and marginalization. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of abuse and identify various factors associated with it among community-dwelling elderly people in slums of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 elderly people (60 years and above) in slums of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. A predesigned, pretested, and semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The prevalence and pattern of elder abuse were determined by simple descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression was used to find out the correlates of abuse. Results: Abuse was present in 12% of the study population. The elderly above 80 years and females had higher odds of abuse. With respect to the existing property, results showed that ownership of agricultural land is a risk factor of abuse. Most of the study population thought that disrespect accounts for elder abuse, followed by neglect, and verbal abuse. The main perpetrators were daughters-in-law, followed by sons, and spouses. Conclusion: The prevalence of geriatric abuse was found to be quite high in the present study. The higher age group and lesser socioeconomic position are just a couple of the causes. Therefore, the continuous issues that make life difficult for the elderly must be addressed.