Elder maltreatment in Europe and the United States: a transnational analysis of prevalence rates and regional factors

ABSTRACT

We investigated the association between type and frequency of elder maltreatment (EM) and residential setting (rural, suburban, and urban settings in the U.S. and northern and southern cities in Europe). We used data on 7,225 participants from European and U.S. cross-sectional studies to estimate rates of EM in three domains in the five settings in logistic-linear models that included setting and demographic variables and tested prespecified contrasts on settings. Northern Europe is similar to the U.S. in rate of financial exploitation; the Mediterranean has higher rates than either of the other two. For emotional and physical maltreatment, the Mediterranean is similar to the U.S; Northern Europe has higher rates. EM differs between and within settings in the U.S. and Europe. There is a need for rigorous research to examine the effects of residential settings and environment on EM. Interventions to reduce EM should be explored.

KEYWORDS:

• Residential setting
• abuse
• elder maltreatment
• financial exploitation

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the work of the Principal Investigators and research teams that conducted the original studies upon which this research is based. The PIs for the original studies were:

ABUEL Study: Silvia Fraga, PhD, University of Porto; Jutta Lindert, PhD, University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer; Joaquim J. F. Soares, PhD, Mid Sweden University; Mindaugas Stankunas, PhD, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences; Henrique Barros, PhD, University of Porto; Francisco Torres-González, PhD, University of Granada; Elisabeth Ioannidi-Kapolou, PhD, National School of Public Health, Athens; Maria Gabriella Melchiorre, PhD, Italian National of Health and Science on Aging.

New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study: Mark S. Lachs, MD, MPH, Weill Cornell Medicine; Jacquelin Berman, PhD, New York City Department for the Aging.

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that there are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Data availability statement

Data collected through the NYS Elder Abuse Prevalence Study that were used to conduct research for this paper are housed at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (USA). Inquiries about the NYS Elder Abuse Prevalence Study data set may be directed to Charles Henderson, PhD, Cornell University: [email protected].

Inquiries about the data set collected through the ABUEL study may be directed to Jutta

Lindert, PhD, MPH, University of Emden/Leer, Germany: [email protected].

Additional information

Funding

This work was not supported by grants or other funding.