Mental Health, Physical Health and Other Individual Risk Factors for Elder Maltreatment: Findings from the National Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The first Macedonian National Prevalence study of elder maltreatment in private settings was conducted in 2011 and 2012. This article provides an overview of the risk factors on individual level regarding the ecological model of human development.METHOD: The study involved 960 respondents who provided answers to a face-to-face survey questionnaire and a Geriatric Depression Scale. The Mini-Mental State Examination test was used as a pre selection criterion. The achieved sample was weighted to be representative on the Macedonian population aged 65 and over. RESULTS: Being women, being married, with elementary school education, suffering from certain chronic diseases, sensory impairment, are potential risk factors on individual level for elderly Maltreatment.CONCLUSION: The findings support the previous quantitative data obtained in other countries, as well as the concept of ecological framework

Elder abuse, depression, anxiety, and stress in community‐dwelling older adults

“…In this study, the most common type of abuse experienced by older people was psychological abuse (18.2%), while sexual abuse was not reported at all. Similarly, it has been reported in many studies in the literature that psychological abuse is the most common type of abuse 15,23–25 and sexual abuse is the least reported type of abuse 24–26 . The results of the research are similar to the results of domestic and international literature.…”

“…Similarly, it has been reported in many studies in the literature that psychological abuse is the most common type of abuse 15,[23][24][25] and sexual abuse is the least reported type of abuse. [24][25][26] The results of the research are similar to the results of domestic and international literature. Since psychological abuse includes many negative behaviours directed toward older people, it is expected that its prevalence will be higher among other types of abuse.…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Older Adults Mistreatment in Bharatpur, Chitwan

“…Physical and sexual mistreatment were the least reported forms of mistreatment. 24,16 Similarly, we found that the prevalence of the most common types of self-reported mistreatment was psychological mistreatment (74.2%), financial mistreatment (59.1%), and neglect (59.1%), respectively, while physical mistreatment (9.1%) and sexual mistreatment (6.1%) were the least prevalent.This is similar to the finding done in Iran that financial and psychological mistreatment are common. 9 Furthermore, the most common types of older adults mistreatment in other settings included caregiver/ family neglect, psychological mistreatment, and financial mistreatment.…”

“…This is similar to the study done inthe Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which found that spouses and adult offspring are the most frequent perpetrators of all types of abuse, except in the case of neglect, where the daughterin-law was the most frequently reported perpetrator. 16 This study also has some limitations. Firstly, selection bias may be present due to the non-probability sampling technique; secondly, information about mistreatment was self-reported by the elderly, so the perspective might vary from that of the family members; thirdly, response bias may be present in the data due to the yes/no response in question, and fourthly, recall bias may be present among the elderly due to the long time frame (12 months).…”

“…The next part contained questions regarding elderly mistreatment; the participants were asked if they experienced any events of psychological, physical, financial, neglect, and sexual mistreatment within the past year. 16 The self-reported responses were implied as yes/no options for each of the questions in each mistreatment subtype domain. The last part included the geriatric depression scale and the daily living activities scale.…”