1. Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Abuse in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
- Author
-
Valeska Marinho, Marcelo Feijó de Mello, Sergio Baxter Andreoli, Jair de Jesus Mari, Deborah Bezerra Maia, Ines M. Quintana, Ivan Figueira, Jerson Laks, Sergio Luís Blay, Rodrigo A. Bressan, and Evandro Silva Freire Coutinho
- Subjects
Gerontology ,Male ,Screening test ,Urban Population ,Physical activity ,Logistic regression ,Elder Abuse ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Risk Factors ,Environmental health ,parasitic diseases ,Medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Elderly adults ,Aged ,030214 geriatrics ,Descriptive statistics ,business.industry ,virus diseases ,Elder abuse ,Middle Aged ,Confidence interval ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Female ,Geriatrics and Gerontology ,Health behavior ,business ,Brazil - Abstract
Objectives: To assess the prevalence of elder abuse and to investigate potential sociodemographic, health behavior, and medical correlates. Design: Cross-sectional data were collected in face-to-face assessments. Setting: Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants: Individuals aged 60 to 75. Measurements: Information on elder abuse was obtained using the Brazil-adapted, nine-item Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test. Sampling design–adjusted descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used in analyses. Results: The overall prevalence of abuse was 14.4% (n = 46/259, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 9.82–20.61) in Sao Paulo and 13.3% (n = 27/197, 95% CI = 8.76–19.74) in Rio de Janeiro. Unadjusted analyses indicated that poor education, low physical activity, unemployment, heart disease, and psychiatric problems were associated with abuse, but in adjusted analyses, self-reported elder abuse was significantly associated only with psychiatric problems (Sao Paulo: OR = 4.48, 95% CI = 1.75–11.45; Rio de Janeiro: OR = 21.61, 95% CI = 6.39–73.14). Conclusion: Elder abuse is prevalent in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but whether concomitants of abuse are cause, effect, or both is unclear because this was a cross-sectional study. These findings highlight the importance of the problem, as well as the need to develop measures to increase awareness, facilitate prevention, and fight against abuse of elderly adults.
- Published
- 2017