Elder abuse in the oldest old: prevalence, risk factors and consequences

Abstract

Background Experiences of abuse in relationships with an expectation of trust are a common phenomenon among older people and is called elder abuse (EA). This can take various forms, such as physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, financial, sexual abuse or neglect. Due to their high vulnerability and difficulties in receiving support, people aged over 80 years old have been pointed out as a group that needs special focus in research. Objective Prevalence, risk factors and consequences of EA for different aspects of quality of life are explored among the oldest old. Material and methods Computer-assisted personal interviews were conducted in a representative sample of the oldest old in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). 988 self-report interviews without third persons present of the NRW80+ study are used to assess EA with the help of the elder abuse and emotional consequences scale (EACS). The EACS describes EA in six dimensions that give a broad understanding of EA. Results Prevalence of experiences of EA within the last 12 months was 54.1%. In logistic regression, multimorbidity, lower functioning, age below 90 years, smaller social network size, and aggressive behaviorwere significant risk factors for EA. People experiencing EA showed less life satisfaction and autonomy and increased loneliness and depressive symptoms. Conclusion EA is prevalent among the oldest old. Serious consequences of EA on life results can be shown with a broad operationalization of EA. Future research should focus on a deeper understanding of reasons for EA and reflect on the relationship between and the perspectives of perpetrators and victims.

High Rate of Elder Abuse in the Time of COVID-19—A Cross Sectional Study of Geriatric and Neurology Clinic Patients

“…And these include: female gender, younger age, economic problems, city living, comorbidities, depression, disability and dependence. Our results are consistent with the results presented by other researchers [7,35,[39][40][41]. Our research also indicates that statistically single people were more likely to experience abuse.…”

“…Interestingly, there are some common risk factors for both fraud susceptibility and COVID-19. Certainly, these factors include comorbidities that predispose to EA [34,35] and are associated with a higher mortality rate due to COVID-19 [36]. Following this trail, it can be safely stated that disability is also a significant risk factor for EA [37] and COVID-19 [38].…”

Elderly abuse, affecting factors and evaluation of life satisfaction: a cross‐sectional study

“…It is known that life satisfaction in the elderly is affected by sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, employment, income, education, marriage and family, and being abused decreases life satisfaction of the elderly. 20 In our study, the mean score of SWLS was lower in the abused elderly according to the GMS. There is a negative correlation between the H-S/EAST score and the SWLS score.…”

Development of the Elder Abuse and Emotional Consequences Scale (EACS)

“…The scale is based on a broad understanding of EA. This is also reflected in the high prevalence of abuse (Brijoux et al, 2021) and the high frequencies in the dimensions. It may, thus, enable future research to discover the dark field of EA in very old individuals.…”