The time has come to eliminate the gaps in the under-recognized burden of elder mistreatment: A community-based, cross-sectional study from rural eastern Nepal
Poster B8, Tuesday, October%209, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Uday Narayan Yadav1, Man Kumar Tamang2; 1Forum for Health Research and Development, Dharan, Nepal, 2Central Campus of Technology, Tribhuvan University, Dharan
Elder mistreatment is a well-recognized public health issue, and it is a violation of human rights. Various exceptionally complex underlying factors contribute to its occurrence. The current study hypothesized that there is no effect of any of the following factors on any type of elder mistreatment: ethnicity, age group, education status, gender, living arrangement, concentration problems, medication for any disease, income level of caregiver, use of psychoactive substances, and dependence on family or caregivers for daily activities. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 339 elders residing in a rural part of eastern Nepal between August and November 2016. Multi-stage cluster sampling was adopted to select the study subjects. Information was collected using semi-structured questionnaires administered to elderly people by a designated interviewer. Our findings revealed that 61.7% of 60+-year-olds experienced some form of mistreatment (physical 2.4%, psychological 22.4%, caregiver neglect 57.5%, financial 12.1% and stranger-inflicted 8.3%). Elder mistreatment was associated with the following characteristics of elders: dependent on family for daily living activities, uneducated, experiencing concentration problems, residing in a living arrangement with their son(s)/daughter(s)-in-law, taking regular medications, belonging to the Dalit community according to the Hindu traditional caste system, and residing with a caregiver having a monthly family income of less than NRs. 20,000 (200 USD). Our data show that elder mistreatment is prevalent in a rural community of Nepal. Addressing the lower socio-economic or socio-cultural classes of caregivers and elders via community-focused development programs might have significant implications for improving the well-being of elders.
Topic Area: Epidemiology