Prevalence and risk factors of suspected elder abuse subtypes in people aged 75 and older.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of suspected elder abuse subtypes and to identify related factors.

Design: Cross-sectional, population-based, descriptive study.

Setting: Eight rural villages in Girona, Spain.

Participants: Six hundred seventy-six inhabitants aged 75 and older.

Measurements: All participants were interviewed in their homes using the study protocol, which includes an abuse screen used in previous elder abuse studies and questions about demographic, social, physical, psychiatric, cognitive, and social services variables.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 81.7 +/- 4.8; 58.2% were female. Prevalence of suspected neglect abuse was 16.0% (95% confidence interval (CI)=13.2-18.9), prevalence of psychosocial abuse was 15.2% (95% CI=12.8-18.2), prevalence of financial abuse was 4.7% (95% CI=3.0-6.4) and prevalence of physical abuse was 0.1% (95% CI=0.004-0.8). Psychosocial abuse was positively associated with depressive symptoms (odds ratio (OR)=1.65, 95% CI=1.01-2.72), social isolation (OR=0.35, 95% CI=0.18-0.69), and frequent bladder incontinence (OR=2.44, 95% CI=1.23-4.86). Neglect abuse was positively associated with social isolation (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.27-0.99), use of social services (OR=1.83, 95% CI=1.05-3.20), and living arrangements (OR=5.29, 95% CI=2.65-10.56). Financial abuse was associated with marital status (OR=0.15, 95% CI=0.04-0.59), age 85 and older, (OR=3.84, 95% CI=1.70-8.68), and Mini-Mental State Examination score (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.78-0.94).

Conclusion: After adjustment for confounding factors, each subtype of suspected elder abuse was associated with different variables. The results of this study suggest that elder abuse cannot be analyzed as a unitary concept and that risk factors must be assessed for each abuse subtype.