Investigating the relationship between domestic mistreatment and some demographic factors in the elderly of Ahvaz city (2020)

Background:Elder Abuse is a serious and dangerous forms of domestic violence that communities and health care professionals have addressed in the past few years. Aims:Due to the increase in The older population in Iran.The aim of this study was to determine  the situation of elder abuse and  its related demographic factors in the older adults in Ahvaz city (2020).  Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional study that was conducted with the participation of the elderly is living in Ahvaz. Sampling was done in two stages. In the first stage, the clusters were randomly selected from the health centers of Ahvaz city and after each cluster, sampling was done. To collect information, demographic characteristics and Domestic mistreatment questionnaire towards the elderly were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software and chi square test. Results: The age range of participants  is between 60-85 years. Their mean age was 66.40. ±5.78. 97 (44.1%) were women and 123(%55.9)  were men And most of the participants (65.4%) 144 were retired. The highest frequency of elder abuse was related to psychological dimension 146 (66.3%), financial 126 (57.3%) and emotional neglect 101 (45.9%), respectively. Based on chi-square statistical test, a significant relationship was observed between elder abuse and the variables of gender, education and job status in elderly people. Discussion and Conclusion: Although there is a lot of emphasis in our culture to respect the older adults, the older people experience different types of mistreatment. The results showed that in the Ahvaz city, the older adults  are faced with the phenomenon of elder abuse in the family. Therefore, it seems that regarding the phenomenon of elder abuse in Ahvaz city, it is necessary to make plans to prevent this phenomenon from happening.