The Impact of Abuse on the Quality of Life of the Elderly: A Population-based Survey in Iran

Abstract

Objectives: The quality of life (QoL) of the elderly and elder abuse are growing public health concerns. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of abuse and the association between QoL and abuse in older adults. Methods:Multistage random cluster sampling, along with valid QoL (LEIPAD: LEIden, the Netherlands; PADua, Italy; Helsinki, Finland) and abuse questionnaires, were used to assess QoL and elder abuse. Path analysis was performed using Mplus. SPSS and AMOS were used for the other analyses.Results: A total of 386 elderly individuals with a mean age of 68.00±6.10 years were interviewed, of whom 200 (51.8%), 289 (74.9%), and 376 (97.4%) were women, educated, and married, respectively. Moreover, 167 (43.2%) had low-to-moderate QoL, and 108 (27.9%) had experienced a moderate level of abuse. QoL and abuse were inversely associated (r=-0.253), with men (β=-0.24) more affected than women (β=-0.21). Musculoskeletal disorders were also strong determinants of QoL in the elderly. QoL was strongly associated with emotional abuse, while abuse was highly related to the social component of QoL. Furthermore, emotional abuse was the type of abuse most significantly associated with the self-care, depression/anxiety, cognitive, and social components of QoL. Sexual abuse, violation of personal rights, and neglect were the main determinants of the physical functioning, life satisfaction, and sexual domains of QoL, respectively. Conclusions:Nearly half of the elderly individuals lacked a high QoL, and at least one-fourth had experienced some form of abuse. Elder abuse was correlated inversely with QoL. Therefore, preventive interventions are recommended to decrease elder abuse in the family, community, and other settings.

Quality of life in the Elders has not Been Regarded as much as their Life Span: A Population-Based Study From Iran

“…Similar to our study, Canuto et al found that the incidence of depression and anxiety disorders had negative relationship with QOL in the elders, especially in women [33]. In another study, violence toward elders was associated with diminishing of QOL in them, as we concluded in this study [34]. Brovold et al showed that physical function had a significant association with aging, which means it is important to encourage elders to being active physically and thereby increasing their QOL [35].…”

Quality of Life in Elders with Suspected Alzheimer Disease: An Urban Health Centers-Based Study from Iran

“…Also, similar to our findings, another study showed that sleep disorders do not have any correlation with AD [ 42 ]. It was reported that violence toward elders was correlated with low QOL [ 43 ]. However, we did not investigate the correlation of violence and QOL in this study.…”

A Study on Supply–Demand Satisfaction of Community-Based Senior Care Combined with the Psychological Perception of the Elderly

“…At present, there are various research methods on community-based senior care satisfaction, such as hierarchical analysis combined with ISM [25], multivariate analysis of variance [44], principal component analysis [45], regression analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM), among which SEM and regression analysis are more common compared with regression analysis. SEM incorporates regression analysis, path analysis, and factor analysis, and it is a modeling tool for multivariate complex relationships.…”