Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Abuse Among Older Women in Rural and Urban Communities in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Elderly women face the same health, economic, and social issues that all elderly people face, but often encounter more challenges compared with men and are more prone to abuse. Elder abuse has hitherto been uncharacterized among women in South Western Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to describe the prevalence, patterns, and factors associated with elder abuse among elderly women in Nigeria. The abuse of elderly women is quite prevalent in the two communities studied, especially physical abuse. Positive predictors of elder abuse were urban dwelling, financial dependency, and a high level of educational attainment. Appropriate interventions should be targeted toward reducing the occurrence.

Prevalence and Predictors of elder abuse in Mafikeng Local Municipality in South Africa

“…The finding of a high prevalence of elder abuse in the Mafikeng Local Municipality is consistent with elder abuse experienced elsewhere in South Africa (Ferreira & Lindgren 2008) and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Cadmus & Owoaje 2012). Compared to the extended family structure, a high prevalence of elder abuse in the elderly couple family revealed the challenges the elderly face when left to themselves in the rapidly changing social and economic environment.…”

“…Elder abuse, its signs and symptoms can be confused with changes brought about by ageing and therefore can easily be misdiagnosed (Fisher et al 2010). Although there are existing laws that guarantee the rights of the elderly and freedom from abuse, previous studies have reported that the prevalence of elder abuse is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa (Cadmus & Owoaje 2012).…”

Prevalence of violence against the elderly and associated factors - a population based study in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina

“…5 In Nigeria, 30% of the elderly participants in a study claimed to have suffered from some form of violence. 6 In Brazil, a study conducted in the city of Niterói investigated the prevalence of violence against individuals aged 60 years or more, confirming that 43% of this aggression was psychological and 9.6% was physical. 7 Other studies have shown that elderly individuals who are subjected to violence are generally single women of an advanced age with a low level of education and some form of physical or psychological dependence which has led to them living with either their children, grandchildren or daughters-in-law.…”

Analysis of Violence against Elderly Woman

“…In the first place, the high prevalence of this type of conduct should be emphasised (Cadmus and Owoaje, 2012;Montero et al, 2013;Stockl, Watts and Penhale, 2012;Orte and Sánchez, 2012;Suelves, Jané and Plasència, 2010). Some authors estimate its prevalence at 29.4%, with an average duration of 21 years for women over the age of 55 (Montero et al, 2013).…”

“…In terms of risk factors associated with the older female victims of intimate partner violence, having suffered other types of abuse or violence in other stages of life (Stockl et al, 2012), the influence of certain traditional values when episodes of violence are borne, generally in silence (Tetterton and Farnsworth, 2011), being divorced or separated, economic dependence and a low educational level, amongst others (Cadmus and Owoaje, 2012;Suelves et al, 2010) are mentioned; but above all what stands out as determining is the impact of a lack of community support (Melchiorre et al, 2013;Paranjape and Kaslow, 2010;Suelves et al, 2010), support networks and the character of social and family relationships being crucially important in terms of empowerment in adult life.…”