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- Fraga, S, et al.
(author)
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Elder abuse and socioeconomic inequalities : A multilevel study in 7 European countries
- 2014
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In: Preventive Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0091-7435 .- 1096-0260. ; 61, s. 42-47
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives To compare the prevalence of elder abuse using a multilevel approach that takes into account the characteristics of participants as well as socioeconomic indicators at city and country level.Methods In 2009, the project on abuse of elderly in Europe (ABUEL) was conducted in seven cities (Stuttgart, Germany; Ancona, Italy; Kaunas, Lithuania, Stockholm, Sweden; Porto, Portugal; Granada, Spain; Athens, Greece) comprising 4467 individuals aged 60–84 years. We used a 3-level hierarchical structure of data: 1) characteristics of participants; 2) mean of tertiary education of each city; and 3) country inequality indicator (Gini coefficient). Multilevel logistic regression was used and proportional changes in Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were inspected to assert explained variance between models.Results The prevalence of elder abuse showed large variations across sites. Adding tertiary education to the regression model reduced the country level variance for psychological abuse (ICC = 3.4%), with no significant decrease in the explained variance for the other types of abuse. When the Gini coefficient was considered, the highest drop in ICC was observed for financial abuse (from 9.5% to 4.3%).Conclusion There is a societal and community level dimension that adds information to individual variability in explaining country differences in elder abuse, highlighting underlying socioeconomic inequalities leading to such behavior.
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- Macassa, Gloria, et al.
(author)
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Psychological abuse among older persons in Europe : A cross-sectional study
- 2013
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In: Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research. - : Emerald. - 1759-6599. ; 5:1, s. 16-34
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose – Elder abuse is an issue of great concern world-wide, not least in Europe. Older people are increasingly vulnerable to physical, psychological, financial maltreatment and sexual coercion. However, due to complexities of measurement, psychological abuse may be underestimated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of psychological abuse toward older persons within a 12 month period.Design/methodology/approach – The study design was cross-sectional and data were collected during January-July 2009 in the survey “Elder abuse: a multinational prevalence survey, ABUEL”. The participants were 4,467 randomly selected persons aged 60-84 years (2,559 women, 57.3 per cent) from seven EU countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Sweden). The sample size was adapted to each city according to their population of women and men aged 60-84 years (albeit representative and proportional to sex-age). The participants answered a structured questionnaire either through a face-to-face interview or a mix of interview/self-response. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression methods.Findings – The prevalence of overall psychological abuse was 29.7 per cent in Sweden, followed by 27.1 per cent in Germany; 24.6 per cent in Lithuania and 21.9 per cent in Portugal. The lowest prevalence was reported in Greece, Spain and Italy with 13.2 per cent, 11.5 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively. Similar tendencies were observed concerning minor/severe abuse. The Northern countries (Germany, Lithuania, Sweden) compared to Southern countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain) reported a higher mean prevalence (across countries) of minor/severe abuse (26.3 per cent/11.5 per cent and 12.9 per cent/5.9 per cent, respectively). Most perpetrators (71.2 per cent) were spouses/partners and other relatives (e.g. children). The regression analysis indicated that being from Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain was associated with less risk of psychological abuse. Low social support, living in rented housing, alcohol use, frequent health care use, and high scores in anxiety and somatic complaints were associated with increased risk of psychological abuse.Social implications – Psychological abuse was more prevalent in Northern than Southern countries and factors such as low social support and high anxiety levels played an important role. Further studies are warranted to investigate the prevalence of psychological abuse and risk factors among older persons in other EU countries. Particular attention should be paid to severe abuse. Such research may help policy makers and health planers/providers in tailoring interventions to tackle the ever growing problem of elder abuse.Originality/value – The paper reports data from the ABUEL Survey, which collected population based data on elderly abuse.
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| 7. |
- Stankunas, M, et al.
(author)
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Differences in reporting somatic complaints in elderly by education level
- 2013
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In: Central European Journal of Medicine. - : Walter de Gruyter GmbH. - 1895-1058 .- 1644-3640. ; 8:1, s. 125-131
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: To evaluate the association between somatic complaints and education level among elders in selected European countries. Methods: Cross-sectional study among randomly selected community dwelling persons aged 60–84 years from seven cities in Europe: Ancona (Italy), Athens (Greece), Granada (Spain), Kaunas (Lithuania), Stuttgart (Germany), Porto (Portugal) and Stockholm (Sweden). Somatic complaints were measured with the 24-item version of the Giessen Complaint List (GBB-24). A regression analysis was done to investigate the association between education and somatic complaints. Results. The mean GBB-24 scale was 16.3±14.9. The most common complaints were pain in joints and limbs (29.6%), back-pain (24.1%), heaviness or tiredness in the legs (19.1%) and general tiredness (15.7%). Respondents with less than primary education reported higher levels of somatic symptoms compared to those with university degree. A regression analysis showed that higher education (OR=0.69) and being male (OR=0.48) were associated with a decreased risk for high levels of somatic complaints, and the opposite for older age (OR=1.03) and being single/divorced/window (OR=1.28). Conclusions: The results indicate that less educated elders are more likely to expressed somatic complaints.
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- Tredal, Ingrid, et al.
(author)
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Alcohol use among abused and non-abused older persons aged 60-84 years : A European study
- 2013
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In: Drugs. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0968-7637 .- 1465-3370. ; 20:2, s. 96-109
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims: Describing alcohol use by abuse type (e.g. psychological) and considering other factors (e.g. depression).Methods: The respondents were 4467 (2559 women, 57.3%) randomly selected elders (60–84 years) from seven European cities. The cross-sectional data were collected with scales covering various areas and examined with bivariate/multivariate methods.Findings: Psychologically abused elders were more often alcohol users than non-users (21.7% vs. 16.3%) and the opposite regarding financially abused elders (4.8% vs. 3.5%). Psychologically abused elders also had more often three or more drinks containing alcohol in a drinking day (21.1% vs. 16.1%) and six or more drinks on one occasion (24.5% vs. 18.3%). Psychological abuse, demographics/socio-economics (e.g. education), smoking and leisure activities were positively associated alcohol use, and being from certain countries (e.g. Italy), age (e.g. 80–84 years), depression and financial abuse negatively.Conclusions: Across countries, 64.2% of the elders were drinkers. Some variables (e.g. psychological abuse) were positively related to alcohol use and others (e.g. depression) negatively. Many of the elders were exposed to abuse. Our findings may be useful to prevent/manage drinking and abuse among elders. However, alcohol use was influenced by various factors that need to be further elucidated, particularly the relation between abuse and drinking.
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