Physical and mental health correlates of perceived financial exploitation in older adults: Preliminary findings from the Finance, Cognition, and Health in Elders Study (FINCHES)

Abstract

Objectives: Financial exploitation (FE) in old age is poorly understood, particularly among those without significant cognitive impairment. The Finance, Cognition, and Health in Elders Study (FINCHES) aims to identify factors associated with FE among cognitively-healthy older adults. Preliminary findings regarding physical and mental health correlates in the pilot phase of FINCHES are reported.

Method: Sixteen older adults who self-reported FE were demographically-matched on age, education, sex, and race/ethnicity to eighteen older adults who did not report past FE.

Results: Those who believed they were exploited endorsed significantly greater symptoms of depression (p = 0.014) and marginally greater symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.062). Participants trended towards lower perceived successful aging (p = 0.094). Perceived FE participants also endorsed greater medical conditions (p = 0.047), but follow-up individual item analyses suggest that this was driven by problems with sleep (p = 0.030).

Conclusions: These preliminary findings from the pilot phase of FINCHES highlight negative mental health factors associated with perceived FE among cognitively-intact older adults.

Keywords:

• Financial exploitation
• aging
• mental health
• physical health
• sleep

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Elder Justice Foundation and the Cathay Bank Foundation awarded to SDH, as well as the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Southern California. The authors would like to acknowledge Emanuil Parunakian and Jacqueline Chen for their help with data collection and management.

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.