Elder abuse in Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Background: Aging is an inevitable biological phenomenon. Today, the elderly have a more active life, better life expectancy, and health status than in the past in Iran. However, there are still a lot of related hidden problems such as the elderly abuse. Objectives: The current study aimed at determining different types of the elder abuse in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted in 2012. The study population included the elderly in Shiraz, Iran. A sample of 226 elderly was randomly selected from 7 urban health centers. Data were collected using domestic elder abuse questionnaire. Data were analyzed by performing descriptive statistics (mean, frequency percentage, and standard deviation), the Pearson correlation, and the Mann-Whitney test by SPSS. Results: Overall, 226 elderly, 72.6% females and 27.4% males, were recruited. The mean± SD age of the sample was 68.55 ± 6.28 years. The incidence rates of abuse for the elderly participants were as follows: emotional negligence (43.8%), psychological abuse (41.2%), negligence in healthcare (31.9%), financial abuse (23%), and curtailment of personal autonomy (20.8%), as well as financial negligence (28.8%), physical abuse (7%), and abandonment (4%). According to the results of the current study, there were significant relationships between financial negligence and occupation (P value = 0.02), financial negligence and gender (P value = 0.06); between negligence in healthcare and gender (P value = 0.04); and between financial abuse and gender (P value = 0.04). According to the results of the study, there was a significant relationship between financial negligence and Occupational negligence, gender and negligence in healthcare, and financial abuse and gender. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated that a high percentage of the elderly participants were abused differently. Therefore, recognizing the prevalence and types of abuse is important to inform the health policy makers and legal authorities, especially families. In this way, better and more desirable care can be provided to the elderly and measures can be taken to improve their lives.