Prevalence and associated factors of elder abuse in a community-dwelling population of Aotearoa New Zealand: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of elder abuse in a representative sample of older people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Analysis was conducted on responses from the second wave of the New Zealand Longitu- dinal Study of Ageing (NZLSA) omnibus survey of 3,923 adults aged 50-87 years. Using the elder mistreatment screening questions, the sample was split between those who identified of having experienced elder abuse (n = 529) and those who did not (n = 2417) from a large population-based study to compare on 19 variables (i.e. age, gender, marital status, living arrangement, education levels, ethnicity, personal income, total number of health conditions, physical health, mental health, ability to get around, economic wellbeing, loneliness, social and emotional loneliness, depression, happiness, satisfaction with life and quality of life). Significant differences were found on 16 of the variables assessed. Results suggested that those who have experienced elder abuse had a higher level of loneliness and poor economic wellbeing. They were more likely to experience depression, have poorer mental health and be less happy. The experience of abuse had significant impact on their satisfaction with life and overall quality of life. A better understanding of these risk factors associated with elder abuse in aging population will assist with both prevention and intervention.