Forensic aspect of elder abuse: risk factors and characteristics

Background: this study aimed to determine the types of elder abuse, their risk factors and the characteristics of abusers among abused elderly people aged above 60 years in isfahan. methods: in a cross-sectional study, abused elderly individuals aged above 60 years that referred to the centers of competent jurisdiction with complaint against a person harassing them were studied during 2008-2009. the demographic profiles of the abused and abusers were collected by physicians who worked in forensic medical centers, using a questionnaire. the type of abuse was classified as physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. results: the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as neglect in 68 individuals who were inten- tionally abused was 100%, 100%, 0% and 11.8%, respectively. abused subjects were healthy, unemployed and illiterate men and women (similar sex distribution) with moderate monthly income who lived with their families, mainly in cities (p < 0.05). the abusers were mainly healthy and illiterate men, mostly the sons of the abused person, living in cities (p < 0.05). forty six (67.6%) patients had previous history of abuse, 43 (63.2%) had more than one previous record and in 45 ones (66.2%) the previous abuse was repeated. there was no relation between elder abuse and drug and alcohol abuse (p > 0.05). conclusions: the findings of this study provided a sense about the probably high prevalence of elder abuse in our community and its related risk factors.