Elderly abuse: risk factors and nursing role

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nursing
• Public Health

Background:

• Elderly abuse is a prevalent yet underestimated issue, with incidence expected to rise due to population aging.
• The phenomenon of elderly abuse is significantly underreported in scientific literature and practice.
• A notable disparity exists in research focus between child abuse and elderly abuse.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current state of knowledge on elderly abuse over the past five years.
• To define the role of nursing in addressing elderly abuse, including types of mistreatment, motivations, and prevention.
• To highlight the underrepresentation of elderly abuse in research compared to other forms of abuse.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of articles published in the last five years.
• Searched major scientific databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, Scopus, Web of Knowledge).
• Utilized keywords such as "elderly abuse" and "elderly abuse in nursing home," with comparative searches for child abuse.

Main Results:

• Only 5.81% of articles reviewed (78 out of 1,342) focused on elderly abuse in relation to nursing.
• The research ratio of child abuse to elderly abuse articles was 1/0.04, indicating significantly less research on elderly abuse.
• Elderly abuse in nursing homes is underreported in both original research and review articles.

Conclusions:

• Elderly abuse and neglect remain hidden and underestimated problems, even within the context of an aging global population.
• There is a critical need for increased research attention and reporting on elderly abuse, especially concerning the nursing profession's role.
• Interventions and awareness regarding elderly abuse require significant enhancement to address the growing public health concern.