Incidence of Elder Abuse in a U.S. Chinese Population: Findings From the Longitudinal Cohort PINE Study

Abstract

<div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d10251415e141"> <!-- named anchor --> </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d10251415e142">Background:</h5> <p id="d10251415e144">Elder abuse (EA) is a global public health issue. However, no prior longitudinal research has quantified the incidence of EA, which is critical to understand risk factors and future prevention strategies. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d10251415e146"> <!-- named anchor --> </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d10251415e147">Methods:</h5> <p id="d10251415e149">The study is based on a longitudinal cohort design. We followed 2,713 U.S. Chinese older adults who agreed to participate in the study within 2011 to 2015. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the 2-year incidence of EA and its subtypes. We employed multiple logistic regression analyses to examine the associations between the sociodemographic characteristics and incident EA. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d10251415e151"> <!-- named anchor --> </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d10251415e152">Results:</h5> <p id="d10251415e154">The incidence of overall EA was 8.8% with 4.8% for psychological, 2.9% for financial, 0.5% for physical, 0.1% for sexual abuse, and 1.1% for caregiver neglect. Age, gender, duration of residence, language preference and health status change were associated with incident EA. Self-perceived worsened health was positively associated with overall EA (odds ratio [OR] 1.28 (1.01, 1.62). Women (OR 2.98 [1.10, 8.11]) and older individuals (OR 1.06 [1.00, 1.13]) had an increased risk of caregiver neglect. Older adults who have lived in the U.S. longer had a higher risk of financial exploitation (OR 1.02 [1.00, 1.05]). Individuals who prefer to speak Mandarin or English were more likely to experience EA (OR 2.08 [1.21, 3.58]) and sexual or physical abuse (OR 3.91 [1.01, 15.17]). No significant association was observed between education, income, marital status, number of children, country of origin, overall health, life quality, and incident EA. </p> </div><div class="section"> <a class="named-anchor" id="d10251415e156"> <!-- named anchor --> </a> <h5 class="section-title" id="d10251415e157">Conclusion:</h5> <p id="d10251415e159">This study presents the first illustration of EA incidence in a longitudinal cohort study, the findings of which verify and challenge prior fundamental assumptions of risk factors associated with EA, and are relevant to future prevention strategies. </p> </div>