High Rate of Elder Abuse in the Time of COVID-19-A Cross Sectional Study of Geriatric and Neurology Clinic Patients

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine 2021-09, Vol.10 (19), p.4532
• Main Authors: Filipska, Karolina, Biercewicz, Monika, Wiśniewski, Adam, Jabłońska, Renata, Królikowska, Agnieszka, Główczewska-Siedlecka, Emilia, Kędziora-Kornatowska, Kornelia, Ślusarz, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adult abuse & neglect; Alzheimer's disease; Clinical medicine; Cognitive ability; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross-sectional studies; Dementia; Emotional abuse; Geriatrics; Hospitals; Medical research; Mental depression; Neurology; Older people; Pandemics; Questionnaires; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Violence
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm10194532

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have caused a sharp increase in the incidence of elder abuse (EA), including as a result of isolation, social distance combined with increased interpersonal stressors. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the elder abuse rates and the characteristics of risk factors. A total of 347 patients hospitalized in the Department of Neurology and Department of Geriatrics at University Hospital No. 1 in Bydgoszcz were selected as subjects for the analysis. The tools used in the study are: Authors-Designed Questionnaire, the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Activities of Daily Living Scale. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, Spearman's rank correlation test, and logistic regression analyses were used. In the studied population, nearly 45% of the elderly were victims of violence. This represents an increase of more than 6 percent compared to the pre-pandemic. The most common type of EA was psychological abuse (72.3%). In the final models, the risk factors include, among others, low income (OR = 3.60, 95% CI = 1.93-6.72), chronic diseases (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.28-3.31), poor relationship with the family (OR = 3.26, 95% CI = 1.96-5.43), and moderate and severe depression (OR = 18.29, 95% CI = 10.24-32.69; OR = 18.49, 95% CI = 3.91-87.30, respectively). Moreover, moderate functional impairment 5.52 times more often and severe functional impairment 21.07 times more likely to predispose to EA. People who suffered from COVID-19 are 1.59 times more likely to be victims of EA (95% CI = 1.03-2.46). In this study, we saw significant increases in EA rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.