Prevalence and associated factors of elder abuse in one rural area of Anhui Province: a cross-sectional study

Objective To explore the prevalence of elder abuse in one rural area of Anhui China, to investigate and identify risk factors of elderly abuse, and to provide evidence for the elderly abuse prevention strategies and measures. Methods Dangtu County in Maanshan City was selected as the study field. Elder people with 60 years old and above and no obstacles in language communication were selected as the study subjects. Chi square test was used to compare the difference between gender and age groups of elderly abuse detection rate. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the influencing factors of elderly abuse. Results The detection rate of elder abuse was 9.9%. With the growth of age, detection rate of elder abuse showed a rising trend. Risk factors for elderly abuse included: a high degree of culture, religious belief, more children, living with a spouse, more diseases, poor daily life ability, moderate to severe pain and depression (all P<0.05). Conclusions Elder abuse had relatively low detection rate in the rural area of Maanshan, Anhui Province. More care and medical services for the elderly should be provided.