Prevalence of Elder Abuse in Maragheh, Iran 2017

Background and purpose: Elder abuse is one of the major social health problems in societies which is also a challenging issue in providing care to the elderly and the healthcare system in Iran. The rate of this misbehavior has increased rapidly over the past two decades. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of elder abuse and its association with some personal and social characteristics. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 555 elderly people older than 60 years of age, living in Maragheh, Iran 2017. Elder Assessment Instrument (EAI) was administered to collect the data. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied for data analysis. Results: The samples mainly aged 60-70 years old (43.4%) and females (53%) were more than males. Among the participants 45.8% reported abuse, including physical abuse (64.9%), psychological abuse (76.3%), neglect (42%), rejection (16.8%), and financial abuse (29.7%). There was a significant association between elder abuse and age, in fact, elder maltreatment was less common in those aged 60-70 years old (P<0.0001). No significant association was found between elder abuse and BMI (P=0.582) and sex (P=0.258). Conclusion: Islam emphasizes paying respect to elderly, but, this study showed elder abuse to be quiet prevalent in the population studied. So, identifying the factors that cause this issue could raise awareness of the authorities in order to develop appropriate policies and guidelines.