Abuse in older adults with communicating disorders: a step forward in this understanding?

Background and aims. Elders’ abuse is a matter of growing public heath care concern. So far, the real magnitude problem unexplored, especially in frail patients with dementia who experience communicating problems. Self-report screening tools for limited their diagnostic accuracy persons dementia. Starting from this background, here we aimed at comparing Elder Assessment Instrument (EAI) Indicator Abuse (IOA) to assess elders’ world older adults or communication impairment hospital admittance preliminary explore potential abusive home environment. Methods. This an observational prospective study on 70 consecutive aged 75 years more, mostly Alzheimer’s type admitted Geriatric clinic IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital Genoa, Italy. All received psychogeriatric assessment. The size environment was assessed, including caregiver’ age, cohabitation, average economic income.Results. EAI tool showed good compared IOA (AUC 0.83) (95% CI: 0.73-0.95); sensitivity 78.6%; specificity 76.8%) cut off score 45 also identified detection elder’s risk. Conclusions. first report compare two elders impairment. Moreover, identification specific may contribute earlier such highly vulnerable population, implications neglected field.