ArticleBMC geriatrics2022
Elder abuse and life-course victimization in hospitalized older adults in Sweden: prevalence and associations with mental ill-health.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Elder abuse without borders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Adverse childhood experiences and elder abuse victimization nexus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Stakeholders' perceptions on guidelines to prevent abuse of older people in Norway: a qualitative analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Perceived hospitalized elder abuse in Iran: a cross-sectional study of subscale patterns and associated factors.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- "How did I get here?": a qualitative life-course analysis of Australian women's experiences of elder abuse.The Gerontologist · 2026Article
- Positive predictive value of Dutch Elder Abuse Scale (ERASE): an early warning tool for elder abuse in the emergency department and geriatric outpatient setting.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Do Higher Levels of Lifetime Victimization Predict an Earlier Onset of First IADL Limitation in Later Life?The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Relative-to-resident abuse in Norwegian nursing homes: a cross-sectional exploratory study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Lifetime Revictimization: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2024Article
- Interpersonal Violence Against Indigenous Sámi and Non-Sámi Populations in Arctic Sweden and the Mediating Effect of Historical Losses and Discrimination.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2024Article
- Lifetime Abuse Victimization and Prospective Health Outcomes in Older Adults.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2024Article
- Older Adults Affected by Abuse-What about Their Mental Health and Social Participation? A Mixed Methods Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe prevalence of elder abuse has only rarely been investigated in Sweden and never in a hospital setting. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: 1) Estimate the prevalence of elder abuse and life-course victimization among hospitalized older adults in Sweden, 2) Explore factors associated with elder abuse in the same sample, and 3) Explore the associations between life-course victimization and mental ill-health.
methodsThe study was conducted at a university hospital in Sweden. Adults over the age of 65 years admitted to a medical or geriatric acute care ward during spring 2018 were consecutively recruited. The participant rate was 44% (n = 135/306). Participants were assessed via a face-to-face interview about their experiences of elder abuse and abuse earlier in life. Mental ill-health was measured using a self-administered depression assessment (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), along with information about medications and diagnoses retrieved from medical records.
resultsAltogether, 40.7% (n = 55) of the participants reported some form of abusive experience during their life course. The prevalence of elder abuse was 17.8% (n = 24), and 58% (n = 14) of elder abuse victims also reported victimization earlier in life. Being abused before the age of 65 was the only background factor associated with elder abuse (OR = 5.4; 95% CI 1.9-15.7). Reporting abusive experiences both before and after the age of 65 was associated with current anti-depressant medication (OR = 6.6; 95% CI 1.1-39.2), a PHQ-9 result of 10 or more (OR = 10.4; 95% CI 2.1-51.0), and nine or more symptom diagnoses (OR = 4.0, 95% CI 1.0-16.1). Being abused only before or after the age of 65 was not significantly associated with any mental ill-health outcome measure.
conclusionsElder abuse and victimization earlier in life are highly prevalent among hospitalized older patients, and our findings underline the importance of a life-course perspective both in research on elder abuse and in clinical practice. Identifying and caring for older adults who have been subjected to abuse should be a priority in health care.
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