Sālmand (Jan 2012)
Elderly Abuse Rates Within Family Among Members of Senior Social Clubs in Tehran
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine elderly abuse rates, subtypes and related factors in the members of senior social clubs in the city of Tehran. Methods & Materials: This was a cross-sectional survey including 379 elders 65 years and older (125 men and 254 women) presenting to the senior social clubs in Tehran. A face-to-face interview was carried out with every participant either at home or in clubs. Initially, individuals' cognitive states were evaluated using the Iranian version of the Abbreviated Mental Test Score and if scores of 6 and over were obtained, they were included in the study after taking informed consent. Subsequently, the Domestic Elderly Abuse Questionnaire, the Activities of Daily Living Scale for elderly people and a questionnaire designed by the authors for collecting demographic and personal data were completed. The gathered data were analyzed using the Chi square and T tests. Results: The total frequency of elderly abuse was 25.9%. The most frequent subtypes were emotional neglect (17.4%) and psychological abuse (17.2%) and the least were related to abandonment (3.7%) and physical abuse (4.7%). Some factors including sex (P<0.0001), health insurance (P<0.04), occupation (P<0.0001), sufficient financial resources (P<0.0001), drug abuse (P<0.017), mean age (P<0.026), number of children (P<0.03), functional status (P<0.0001) and re-hospitalization (P<0.0001) were significantly different between the abused and non-abused people. Conclusion: Given the high rates of elderly abuse, serious measures must be taken to prevent its long-term consequences.
