Elder Abuse in Portugal: Findings From the First National Prevalence Study

Abstract

In this study, we present findings of the Portuguese national prevalence study, “Aging and Violence,” the purpose of which was to estimate the prevalence of abuse and neglect of older people in family settings over a 12-month period and examine the relationship between abuse and sociodemographic and health characteristics. Through a telephone survey of a representative probability sample (N = 1,123), we evaluated 12 abusive behaviors and demographic data. Overall, 12.3% of older adults experienced elder abuse in family settings. The prevalence rates of specific types were as follows: psychological, 6.3%; financial, 6.3%; physical, 2.3%; neglect, 0.4%; and sexual, 0.2%. Logistic regression was employed to determine the relationship between abuse and covariates. The study suggests that education level, age, and functional status are significantly associated with abuse. Accurate estimates of the prevalence of elder abuse and understanding of victim and perpetrator characteristics are fundamental to designing effective strategies for prevention and intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• abuse and neglect
• older adults
• prevalence
• Portugal
• family context

Notes

1. The results of the two studies reveal a wide range of prevalence rates of psychological abuse, the most prevalent in both ABUEL (21.9%) and AVOW (32.4%). The least prevalent type of abuse was sexual in ABUEL (1.3%) and physical in AVOW (2.8%).

2. All of the contacts were classified according to the final disposition codes for RDD telephone surveys, and RR6 was used for response rate calculation.

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and or publication of this article: Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) in Portugal (grant PTDC/CS-SOC/110311/2009).