[Factors potentially associated to domestic negligence among elders assisted in home assistance program]

The cases of abuse against elderly people have been growing significantly throughout the entire world. Among the various forms of abuse, one of the less known and denounced is the domestic negligence. As it occurs mostly inside family and nursing homes, it is hardly identified. This article presents the results of a cross-sectional descriptive/analytical study that pointed out the existing factors potentially associated to domestic negligence towards elderly patients attended by the Elderly Home Care Program as part of the discipline of Geriatrics of the Paulista Medical School, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. Interviews were made with 40 familiar caregivers of these patients who had functional disability. The profiles of those patients and their caregivers were identified by questionnaires and the impact on those familiars by the Caregiver Burden Scale. The results revealed the existence of the following factors potentially associated with domestic negligence among elderly people, in the study population: the dimensions general tension and isolation, as well as depression and stress on the caregiver's side, and the elder's functional ability, are the causes that impact the most on caregivers.