Elder Abuse in Long-Term Care: Types, Patterns, and Risk Factors

The authors investigated types and patterns of elder abuse by paid caregivers in long-term care and assessed the role of several risk factors for different abuses and for multiple abuse types. The results are based on a 2005 random-digit-dial survey of relatives of persons in long-term care. We computed occurrence rates and conditional occurrence rates for each of six abuse types: physical, caretaking, verbal, emotional, neglect, and material. Among older adults who have experienced at least one type of abuse, more than half (51.4%) have experienced another type of abuse. Physical functioning problems, activities of daily living limitations, and behavioral problems are significant risk factors for at least three types of abuse and are significant for multiple abuse types. The findings have implications for those monitoring the well-being of older adults in long-term care as well as those responsible for developing public health interventions.