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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect
— a systematic review | | Author(s) | Claudia Cooper, Amber Selwood, Gill Livingston |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 37, no 2, March 2008 |
| Pages | pp 151-160 |
| Source | http://www.ageing.oupjournals.org |
| Keywords | Elder abuse ; Neglect [care] ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | The authors conducted a comprehensive literature search of multiple databases (to October 2006), supplemented by a search of the references of all relevant articles. The systematic review included studies measuring prevalence of elder abuse or neglect, whether reported by older people themselves, or family and professional caregivers., or investigated using objective measures. 49 studies met inclusion criteria, of which only seven used measures for which reliability and validity had been assessed. In the general population studies, 6% of older people reported significant abuse in the previous month, and 5.6% of couples reported physical violence in their relationship in the previous year. In studies using valid instruments involving vulnerable older people, nearly a quarter reported significant levels of psychological abuse. 5% of family caregivers reported physical abuse towards care recipients with dementia in a year, and a third reported any significant abuse. 16% of care home staff admitted significant psychological abuse. Rates of abuse recorded using objective measures (5%) or reported to home management or adult protective services (APS) (1-2%) were low. One in four vulnerable older people are at risk of abuse, and only a small proportion of this is currently detected. Older people and family and professional caregivers are willing to report abuse and should be asked about it routinely. Valid, reliable measures and consensus on what constitutes an adequate standard for validity of abuse measures are needed. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080411206 A |
| Classmark | QNT: QNR: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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