Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 11;22(1):317.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-02986-9.

Prevalence patterns and associated factors of elder abuse in an urban slum of eastern India

Pradnya Chandanshive  1 , Sonu H Subba  1 , Swayam Pragyan Parida  2 , Shree Mishra  3
Affiliations

Prevalence patterns and associated factors of elder abuse in an urban slum of eastern India

Pradnya Chandanshive et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of elder abuse in various parts of the world has been reported between 2.2 and 90.4%. According to some studies conducted in India, elder abuse prevalence ranges between 9.6 to 61.7%. Yet, elder abuse is an underreported issue. Most available evidence shows the involvement of close family members and caregivers in the abuse of older adults. Several factors associated with various forms of elder abuse need to be studied further. This study has attempted to capture the prevalence, pattern and associated factors of elder abuse in urban slums.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional community-based study conducted between August 2019 to August 2020 in an urban field practice area of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar. It covers four wards of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, served by the Urban Primary Health Centre, IRC Village, Nayapalli. A total of 360 participants aged 60 years and above were included in this study. They were interviewed using various semi-structured interview schedules. Validated study tools such as Activities of Daily Living (ADL- Barthel Index), Hindi Mental Scale Examination (HMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS) were also used to assess various factors.

Results: Approximately one in five (19.4%) older adults reported some form of abuse. The types of elder abuse reported were physical abuse in 12 (3.3%), verbal abuse in 25 (6.9%), emotional abuse in 40 (11.1%), and financial abuse in 15 (4.2%) older adult participants. The sons and daughters-in-law of the older adult participants were the main perpetrators of abuse reported. Depression and past history of abuse were found significantly associated with any type of abuse.

Conclusions: The prevalence of elder abuse in this study was considerably high, with 70 (19.4%) out of the 360 participants reporting some form of abuse. Emotional abuse was the most reported, and physical abuse was the least reported type. The most common perpetrators were those on whom the older adults depended, like their sons and daughters-in-law.

Keywords: Community; Elder abuse; India; Urban slum.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicting interests as defined by BMC, or other interests that might be perceived to influence the results and/or discussion reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of methodology
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Elder abuse according to types of abuse in the study participants (N = 360)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chan DM, Zoellick MRB. World health organization. World report on disability [internet]. World health Organization; 2011. [cited 2020 Dec 4]. Available from: https://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report.pdf
    1. SRS Statistical Report 2018 [Internet]. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. 2018 [cited 2020 Dec 4]. Available from: https://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/SRS_Reports_2018.html
    1. Amiri M. Problems Faced by Old Age People. Int J Indian Psychol. 2018;6(3):2349–3429 [cited 2020 Dec 5]. Available from: https://ijip.in/article-details/?dip=18-01-026-20180603. doi: 10.25215/0603.026.
    1. World health organization. Elder abuse- the health sector role in prevention and response [internet]. World health Organization: 2016 [cited 2020 Dec 30]. Available from: https://www.who.int/ageing/media/infographics/EA_infographic_EN_Jun_18_w...
    1. Krug EG, Dahlberg LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R. Abuse of the elderly. In: World report on violence and health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2002. pp. 123–143.