Abuse of Rural Elders in Mansoura Districts, Dakahlia, Egypt: Prevalence, Types, Risk Factors, and Lifestyle.

Abstract

This study was carried out to explore the prevalence of elderly abuse, identify its types, associated risk factors and determine quality of their life in Rural Mansoura districts, Egypt. A cross-section study was conducted on a sample of 272 elders recruited from outpatient clinicsFamily Health Centers in Shawa & Berkin villages from May 1 to September 3, 2016. 200 (73.5%) elders accepted participation. A previously designed and validated questionnaires were used to collect data from participants. 46% of the studied elders were abused. The most frequent forms of abuse were negligence (40%) followed by psychological abuse (30.5%). Abuse was significantly higher among females (56.5%), farmers (67.2%), illiterates (55.5%) and living alone elders (68.5%). Elders with chronic diseases were significantly more abused (54.9%) especially diabetic and hypertensive elders (71.4%). Concerning lifestyle of the studied elders, 21% of them had bad health perception generally. The study showed that dependent elders exposed significantly to higher rates of abuse than independents with highly statistical significant.Logistic regression analysis revealed that being a female and previously working as farmer are 2.5 and 4.6 times more likely to be abused. On the other hand, sharing house with other partner or offspring and absence of chronic diseases are protective predictors against elder abuse. Governmental and NGOS support to elders in rural areas especially females and famers is highly recommended. Health insurance is necessary for health promotion, reduction of chronic disease and or disability to decrease dependency is crucial.