Elder abuse education in primary care residency programs: a cluster group analysis

Elder abuse is a serious issue, affecting up to 10% of community-dwelling older adults. This project sought to understand if elder abuse under-reporting was related to physician specialty and residency training.

A 17-item survey focusing on program demographics, current curriculum, priority of elder abuse education, clinical and didactic experiences, and triage resources was mailed to directors of all Michigan primary care residencies approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Clustering by program type, family medicine programs were primarily represented in the high-intensity group (standard residual -1.6), while internal medicine programs were primarily represented in the low-intensity group (standard residual 2.5, X2=14.80, df=6). Emergency medicine comprised the mid-intensity groups. The high- intensity group scored very high or high on areas including knowledge of elder abuse facts, elder abuse curriculum and training, and awareness of community resources related to elder abuse.

Family medicine residency programs appear to address elder abuse more comprehensively than do emergency medicine and internal medicine programs. These programs may need to consider additional curriculum and clinical experience in elder abuse.