Chronic disease and elder mistreatment: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: This meta-analysis investigated the relationships between chronic diseases and different forms of elder mistreatment (physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect, or overall abuse).

Method: Twelve different chronic disease risk markers linked to elder mistreatment were gathered from 48 studies (yielding 178 effect sizes (ESs) and a combined sample size of n = 390,785), then organized in to four broad chronic disease categories: endocrine disease, heart disease, neurological disease, and other chronic diseases. Data were analyzed with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software using a random effects approach.

Results: Neurological disease (odds ratio [OR] = 1.51), endocrine disease (OR = 1.38), heart disease (OR = 1.17), and other chronic diseases (OR = 1.26) were all significantly associated with elder mistreatments. Neurological disease (OR = 1.51) was found to have a significantly stronger association with elder mistreatment when compared to the heart disease category (OR = 1.17) and the other chronic disease category (OR = 1.26). When specifically investigating emotional abuse, there was a significantly stronger link with neurological disease (OR = 1.48) compared to other chronic diseases (OR = 1.21).

Conclusions: This study provides the first meta-analytic benchmarks for understanding the links between chronic disease risk markers and different forms of elder mistreatment.

Keywords: chronic disease; elder abuse; elder mistreatment; meta-analysis.