The prevalence, severity and chronicity of abuse towards older men: Insights from a multinational European survey

Abstract

Background Elder abuse is a growing public health question among policy makers and practitioners in many countries. Research findings usually indicate women as victims, whereas male elder abuse still remains under-detected and under-reported. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, severity and chronicity of abuse (psychological, physical, physical injury, sexual, and financial) against older men, and to scrutinize factors (e.g. demographics) associated with high chronicity of any abuse. Methods Randomly selected older men (n = 1908) aged 60–84 years from seven European cities (Ancona, Athens, Granada, Kaunas, Stuttgart, Porto, Stockholm) were interviewed in 2009 via a cross-sectional study concerning abuse exposure during the past 12 months. Results Findings suggested that prevalence of abuse towards older men varied between 0.3% (sexual) and 20.3% (psychological), with severe acts between 0.2% (sexual) and 8.2% (psychological). On the whole, higher chronicity values were for injury, followed by psychological, financial, physical, and sexual abuse. Being from Sweden, experiencing anxiety and having a spouse/cohabitant/woman as perpetrator were associated with a greater “risk” for high chronicity of any abuse. For men, severity and chronicity of abuse were in some cases relatively high. Conclusions Abuse towards older men, in the light of severe and repeated acts occurring, should be a source of concern for family, caring staff, social work practice and policy makers, in order to develop together adequate prevention and treatment strategies.

Characteristics of Elder Abuse Perpetrators by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity of the Abused: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

“…Living arrangement with the perpetrator can also influence elder abuse in multiple ways, including having impacts on the chronicity of the abuse [32]. While previous studies suggest that perpetrators tend to be dependent on and living with their victim(s) [29,33], we observed different patterns across elder abuse types and SOGI groups.…”

“…Our study provides insight concerning the distinct characteristics of perpetrators across the three main types of elder abuse and among SOGI minority and majority victims. These findings should be taken into consideration when considering abuse dynamics experienced by community-dwelling older adults and in the development of preventive strategies [6,9,31,32]. While most of our findings concern individuals who experienced victimization by only one relationship type, the finding that 15% of LB women experienced psychological abuse from more than one relationship type identifies a topic that should be the subject of future investigation.…”

“…Hassouneh and Glass [34] have demonstrated that in same-sex relationships, the female perpetrator is frequently aware of the potential of using traditional gender role stereotypes to create confusion and uses these to their advantage, playing to be the victim [34]. Other research has indicated that detection and management of EA is more challenging when the perpetrator lives with the victim, or when a close relationship exists between the victim and perpetrator [32]. Older men who are abused by a co-habiting spouse, partner or child are reluctant to report abuse, because of the feeling of shame in the context of gender-role socialization, in particular when a man's abuser is a woman [28,32].…”

“…Other research has indicated that detection and management of EA is more challenging when the perpetrator lives with the victim, or when a close relationship exists between the victim and perpetrator [32]. Older men who are abused by a co-habiting spouse, partner or child are reluctant to report abuse, because of the feeling of shame in the context of gender-role socialization, in particular when a man's abuser is a woman [28,32]. The results of the present study lead us to conclude that gender-role socialization may play a role in the reluctance of LB women to respond to questions about the sex and living arrangement of their abusers.…”

Assessment of Risk Factors for Advanced Open Angle Glaucoma Presentation among Patients Visiting Jimma University Medical Center, Jimma, Ethiopia

“…This might be due to the high prevalence and incidence of glaucoma among old age ( 14 ). Other reason could be delayed visiting for ophthalmic examination among old due to economical dependence, difficulties with mobility and social isolation ( 15 , 16 ). In addition to these reasons, even though they visited clinic, glaucoma would be missed due to lack of comprehensive eye examination, either due to lack of examination instrument or little visualization of the posterior segment related to media opacity (cataract or corneal opacity) ( 17 , 18 ).…”