The Prevalence and Associated Factors of Elderly Abuse: A Cross-Sectional Study

Year 2021, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 570 - 575, 18.10.2021

Önder Sezer , Ceyda Akbaş Ataş Nezih Dağdeviren

https://doi.org/10.18521/ktd.947854

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Objective: The prevalence of elderly abuse varies between 2.2% and 30.1% in European countries. There is a limited number of studies that have investigated elderly abuse in Turkey. The aim of this study is to detect the prevalence and risk factors of elder abuse, identify the factors that can affect elderly abuse, and assess the possible measures to prevent this problem.
Methods: We stratified the districts enrolled in family health centers to ensure that participants were from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds of Edirne and formed a representative sample of 211 people. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, our survey consisted of the Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test, the Geriatric Depression Scale-short form, the Standardised Mini-Mental State Examination, the Barthel Index for activities of daily living, and the Lawton-Brody instrumental activities of daily living scale.
Results: The prevalence of elderly abuse was determined as 9.9%, and high abuse risk was 15.2%. We found that abuse risk was higher among older people who had no social security, lived alone, were abused physically or emotionally before, reported having bad family relations, and had fewer rooms at home which leads to a lack of privacy. Furthermore, we found significant relationships between abuse risk and the depression score.
Conclusion: Elderly abuse is a risk for every person regardless of gender, education level, and economic status. As an invisible problem for societies, elderly abuse brings a great burden by leading to the loss of physical, mental, and psychological health. Preventive measures should be the primary goal. All results suggest that governments, non-governmental organizations, and health care providers should combat this problem by increasing patient literacy and ensuring lifestyle changes.

Keywords

elderly abuse, risk factors, living arrangements, community health

Yaşlı İstismarı Prevalansı ve Etkileyen Faktörler: Kesitsel Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Amaç: Yaşlı istismarı prevalansı Avrupa ülkelerinde %2,2 ile %30,1 arasında değişmektedir. Türkiye’de yaşlı istismarını inceleyen sınırlı sayıda çalışma mevcuttur. Bu çalışmanın amacı yaşlı istismarı prevalansı ve risk faktörlerini saptamak, yaşlı istismarını etkileyen faktörleri tespit etmek ve nu sorunu önlemek için alınabilecek tedbirleri değerlendirmektir.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Katılımcıların tüm sosyal, kültürel ve ekonomik kesimlerden olması için aile sağlığı merkezleri nüfusları üzerinden tabakalandırma yapılarak 211 kişilik örneklem oluşturulmuştur. Sosyodemografik özelliklere ek olarak Hwalek-Sengstock Yaşlı İstismarı Tarama Testi, Geriatrik Depresyon Ölçeği Kısa Formu, Standardize Mini Mental Durum Testi, Barthel Günlük Yaşam Aktiviteleri İndeksi ve Lawton-Brody Enstrümental Günlük Yaşam Aktiviteleri Ölçeği ankete dahil edilmiştir.
Bulgular: Yaşlı istismarı prevalansı %9,9 ve yüksek istismar riski %15,2 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Sosyal güvencesi olmayan, yalnız yaşayan, daha önce fiziksel veya duygusal istismara uğramış, aile ilişkilerinin kötü olduğunu bildiren ve mahremiyet eksikliğine yol açacak şekilde evinde az sayıda odası olan yaşlılarda istismar riskinin daha yüksek olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan regresyon analizinde istismar riski ile depresyon skoru arasında anlamlı ilişki bulunmuştur.
Sonuç: Yaşlı istismarı cinsiyet, eğitim düzeyi ve ekonomik durumu ne olursa olsun her insan için bir risktir. Toplumlar için görünmez bir sorun olan yaşlı istismarı, fiziksel, zihinsel ve psikolojik sağlık kaybına yol açarak büyük bir yük getirmektedir. Önleyici tedbirler öncelikli hedef olmalıdır. Tüm sonuçlar hükümetlerin, sivil toplum kuruluşlarının ve sağlık hizmeti sağlayıcılarının hasta okuryazarlığını artırarak ve yaşam tarzı değişiklikleri sağlayarak bu sorunla mücadele etmesi gerektiğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

yaşlı istismarı, risk faktörleri, yaşam düzenlemeleri, toplum sağlığı

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