Prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment in a community-dwelling population of U.S. Chinese older adults.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment among U.S. Chinese older adults. Data were drawn from the Population-Based Study of ChINese Elderly (PINE) study, a population-based epidemiological survey of 3,159 U.S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area. The study design was guided by a community-based participatory research approach. This study found a prevalence of 15.0% for elder mistreatment among community-dwelling Chinese older adults. In addition, higher levels of education (r = .16, p< .001), fewer children (r = .1, p< .001), lower health status (r = .11, p< .001), poorer quality of life (r = .05, p< .01), and worsening health over the past year (r = .08, p< .001) were positively correlated with any elder mistreatment. Elder mistreatment is prevalent among U.S. Chinese older adults. The findings point to a pressing need for researchers, community service workers, health care providers, and policy makers to increase efforts on reducing elder mistreatment in U.S. Chinese communities.