The association between physical function and elder mistreatment among community-dwelling Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area

Abstract

Background: Physical function (PF) impairment and elder mistreatment (EM) are alarming public health issues facing by many older adults. Prior studies have not generated uniform findings on the associations between PF and EM. This study aimed to address the research gap of this association among U.S. Chinese aging population. Methods: Three thousand one hundred fifty-eight community-dwelling Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago Area were surveyed. Independent variables included both self-reported and performance-based PF measurements. Dependent variable was EM, assessed by a 10-item instrument that has been widely used in social studies. Results: The mean age of study participants was 76.3 years (SD ± 8.4) and 58.0% were female. After adjusting for potential covariates, higher scores of activities of daily living (odds ratio [OR] = 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.73–0.98), instrumental activities of daily living (OR = 0.87, 0.82–0.92), and Rosow–Breslau reversely coded (OR = 0.85, 0.75–0.96) were associated with lower risk of EM. Also, lower scores of observed PF performance measurements, including tandem stand (OR = 0.78, 0.70–0.88), measured walk (OR = 0.84, 0.77–0.91), and the overall measurement (OR = 0.93, 0.89–0.97) have significant associations with lower risk of EM. Conclusions: Findings from this study suggested that greater levels of PF impairment were associated with lower risk of EM among U.S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago Area. Longitudinal studies are needed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the pathways between PF and EM and its subtypes among Chinese aging populations.