Elder Abuse: Characterization of a Population Hospitalized in CHUC

Abstract

Purpose: Mistreatment in the elderly people represents an increasing problem in today’s society, making it crucial to understand its true impact. This study aims to evaluate the signs of mistreatment in a population of elderly people admitted and relate them with risk factors. Methods: The data was obtained a questionnaire, with the participation of 100 elderly people The questionnaire was divided into 5 sections, al-lowing the collection of sociodemographic and health data, information on emotional status (Geriatric Depression Scale) and functional status (Katz Index) and the prevalence of abuse indicators with the Question to Elicit Elder Abuse (QEEA) instrument. Results: The analysis of the results concludes that 36% of the participants report at least one indicator of abuse. Emotional abuse (29%) and neglect (24%) are more frequently detected, followed by financial abuse (12%) and physical abuse (5%). When relating the indicators of mistreatment with the other variables, it is concluded that there is an association between the number of mistreatment indicators and female gender, low educational level, depressive symptoms and increased functional dependence. Conclusion: This study is alerting us to the high number of elderly people with signals of mistreatment in CHUC, a central Hospital in Coimbra, Portugal. It is important that the medical and other health professionals become of the issue in order to develop policies capable of minimizing this situation.