Domestic elder abuse in Yazd, Iran: a cross-sectional study.

Mohammad Ali Morowatisharifabad,Hassan Rezaeipandari,Ahmad Zeinali,Ali Dehghani

doi:10.15171/hpp.2016.18

Abstract

Background: Social changes due to urbanism, acculturation, and fading of values have led to some challenges in family relationships, including domestic elder abuse. This study was conducted to determine elder abuse status in Yazd, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 elderly people over 60 years in Yazd in 2014-2015. Clustered random sampling was used to recruit the participants from 10 clusters in Yazd (25 individuals from each cluster). The data were gathered by the 49-item,Iranian Domestic Elder Abuse Questionnaire which was filled out through private interviews with the participants. Results: Mean score of elder abuse was 11.84 (SD: 12.70) of total 100. Of the participants,79.6% (95% CI: 74.5-84.6) experienced at least one type of abuse. Emotional neglect was the most reported abuse and physical abuse was the least reported. Abuse score was associated with age, education level, living status, and insurance status of elders. Further, those who reported history of gastrointestinal problems, dyslipidemia, respiratory diseases, sleep disorders, audiovisual problems, joints pain, hypertension, dental/oral problems, cardiovascular disease,urinary incontinence and disability, reported a statistically significant higher abuse score. Conclusion: Despite overall low rate of domestic elder abuse, its high prevalence indicates that some interventions are necessary to decrease domestic elder abuse. Emotional neglect of elders should be addressed more than other abuse types.

Highlights

There is scant evidence on elder abuse, one of the most hidden and frequent forms of family violence
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elder abuse is an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.[1]
Social changes due to urbanism, acculturation, and fading of values and traditional beliefs have led to some challenges in family relationships, including domestic elder abuse

Summary

Introduction

There is scant evidence on elder abuse, one of the most hidden and frequent forms of family violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elder abuse is an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.[1] Social changes due to urbanism, acculturation, and fading of values and traditional beliefs have led to some challenges in family relationships, including domestic elder abuse. Emotional neglect of elders should be addressed more than other abuse types

Methods

Results

Conclusion