Abuse and maltreatment in the elderly

Introduction: The aging population is increasing worldwide, but the abuse and mistreatment in the elderly (often silenced forms) has also been increasing, with strong implications for their quality of life.

Objective: To identify forms of abuse and ill-treatment in the elderly, as well as the determinants of these abuses.

Methodology: This is a quantitative study, of the non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional type attended by 135 Portuguese elderly. It uses the Family APGAR Scale and the Question to Elicit Elder Abuse (QEEA), which was applied between January and June 2013, in the elderly residing in the central of Portugal.

Results: The data shows that 23.5% of the elderly have suffered some kind of abuse, these being especially of the emotional kind and neglect. We also found that the most abused elders were unmarried and widows, those who had lower academic qualifications, those who reported feeling lonely and less healthy and even those who perceive to integrate families with some degree of dysfunction.

Conclusion: We found that the abuse and mistreatment are present in the everyday life of many seniors and are a difficult subject to approach. The evidence, invite us to reflect on the development of intervention strategies, particularly at the levels of emotional abuse, neglect, promotion of health and family functioning in order to contribute to the reduction or extinction of abuse and ill-treatment in the elderly.