Abstract
Elder abuse is recognised worldwide as a serious problem, yet quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies are rare. We aimed to quantify and understand prevalence variation at the global and regional levels. For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched 14 databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, and MEDLINE, using a comprehensive search strategy to identify elder abuse prevalence studies in the community published from inception to June 26, 2015. Studies reporting estimates of past-year abuse prevalence in adults aged 60 years or older were included in the analyses. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity, with study quality assessed with the risk of bias tool. The study protocol has been registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42015029197. Of the 38 544 studies initially identified, 52 were eligible for inclusion. These studies were geographically diverse (28 countries). The pooled prevalence rate for overall elder abuse was 15·7% (95% CI 12·8-19·3). The pooled prevalence estimate was 11·6% (8·1-16·3) for psychological abuse, 6·8% (5·0-9·2) for financial abuse, 4·2% (2·1-8·1) for neglect, 2·6% (1·6-4·4) for physical abuse, and 0·9% (0·6-1·4) for sexual abuse. Meta-analysis of studies that included overall abuse revealed heterogeneity. Significant associations were found between overall prevalence estimates and sample size, income classification, and method of data collection, but not with gender. Although robust prevalence studies are sparse in low-income and middle-income countries, elder abuse seems to affect one in six older adults worldwide, which is roughly 141 million people. Nonetheless, elder abuse is a neglected global public health priority, especially compared with other types of violence. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the WHO Department of Ageing and Life Course.
Highlights
Elder abuse is a serious human rights violation that requires urgent action.[1]
No meta-analyses existed before this study, one systematic review emerged in the scientific literature after the initiation of this study that found a global aggregate elder abuse prevalence rate of 14·3%
The research is part of a larger systematic review; the present study focused on self-reported prevalence studies on elder abuse within community settings
Summary
Elder abuse is a serious human rights violation that requires urgent action.[1] It is a major public health problem that results in serious health consequences for the victims, including increased risk of morbidity, mortality, institutionalisation, and hospital admission, and has a negative effect on families and society at large.[2,3,4] Despite the severity of its consequences, major gaps remain in estimating the prevalence of elder abuse. Understanding the magnitude of elder abuse is a crucial first step in the public health approach to prevent this type of violence.[5] the lack of consensus in defining and measuring elder abuse and its major subtypes (psychological, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and neglect) have resulted in wide variations in reported prevalence rates. National estimates of past-year abuse prevalence rate ranged between 2·6% in the UK6 and 4% in Canada[7] to 18·4% in Israel[8] and 29·3% in Spain.[9]
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