Frequency and Risk Factors of Elder Abuse in the University Hospital and Health Insurance Attendees in Ismailia City
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- Category: Vol. 78, March 2010
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Frequency and Risk Factors of Elder Abuse in the University Hospital and Health Insurance Attendees in Ismailia City, HANAN A. EL-GAMMAL, MAGED S. KHATTAB, MAGDA T. FAHMY and ENAYAT M. SOLTAN
Abstract
Background: Elder abuse (EA) is associated with physical and mental health problems, including physical injuries, depression, poor control of chronic diseases and functional disability. This study assess the frequency, risk factors, types and consequences of the elder abuse in Egypt.
Subjects and Methods: This is a descriptive study; the study was carried out at Suez Canal university hospital and health insurance outpatient clinics in Ismailia city, Egypt. One hundred eighty eight elders were included in this study. A semi structured questionnaire was modified from World report on violence and health (2002) to be suitable to our culture.
Results: The mean age of the studied elders was 67.86 years ±6.87. The study showed that 61.2% were males, while 38.8% were females. The frequency of abused elders was 13.8%. The majority of abused elders were 60-69 years old representing 66. 1 %. The pension was the basic source of income for 95.2% of abused. More than half of abused elders (52.7%) had insufficient income. There was statistical signif-icance relationship between elder abuse and pre-retirement occupation, presence of partner, thinking of living at residential home and the most significant factor affecting the abused founded by the logistic regression among the studied variables was income insufficiency (p<0.05). The most frequent perpe-trators were siblings (84.6%), followed by daughter-in-law (23. 1 %). The emotional abuse was the most frequent type (88.5%) of abuse. The major risk factor was financial diffi-culties (88.5%). And the major consequences of elder abuse were; depressive symptoms and re-experiencing events; 84% and 69.2% respectively.
Conclusion: Elder abuse is a growing problem in Egypt. It is a complex phenomenon that involves multiple risk factors and found in different types. Higher proportion of elderly abused people suffers from depressive symptoms and psycho-logical distress.