Prevalence of elder abuse in the community and care settings: An umbrella review

Objective

Elder abuse, an important human rights issue and public health problem, contributes to increased disability and mortality. In the last decades, several reviews have synthesized primary studies to determine its prevalence. This umbrella review aimed to estimate the worldwide overall prevalence rate of elder abuse in the community and care setting.

Methods

Following prospective registration at PROSPERO (CRD42021281866) we conducted a search of eight electronic databases to identify systematic reviews from inception until 17 January 2023. The corrected covered area was calculated to estimate the potential overlap of primary studies between reviews. The quality of the selected reviews was assessed using a modified AMSTAR-2 instrument. We extracted data on the prevalence of any type of elder (people aged 60 years old or older) abuse in the community and care setting.

Results

There were 16 systematic reviews retrieved between 2007 and 2022, out of which ten captured prevalence globally, three in Iran, one in Turkey, one in China and one in Brazil. The 16 reviews included 136 primary studies in total between 1988 and 2020. The overlapping of studies between reviews was found to be moderate (5.5%). The quality of reviews was low (2, 12.5%) or critically low (14, 87.5%). The estimated range of global prevalence of overall elder abuse was wide (1.1–78%), while the estimations of specific abuse prevalence ranged from 0–81.8% for neglect, 1.1–78.9% for psychological abuse, 0.7–78.3% for financial abuse, 0.1–67.7% for physical abuse, and 0–59.2% for sexual abuse.

Conclusions

Although the low quality of the evidence and the heterogeneity of the phenomenon makes it hard to give precise prevalence data, it is without a question that elder abuse is a prevalent problem with a wide dispersion. The focus of attention should shift towards interventions and policymaking to prevent this form of abuse.