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As the American population ages, rates of elder abuse are on the rise, especially among men, federal health officials said Thursday.
Between 2002 and 2016, the rate of sexual assault among men aged 60 and over increased by 75%, while it increased by 35% among women between 2007 and 2016. In men over Elderly, homicide rate increased by 7% between 2010 and 2016, according to US centers. for the control and prevention of diseases.
"We are still examining the circumstances that appear to be associated with the increase in violence against this age group," said Joseph Logan, senior researcher at the National Center for Prevention and Prevention. injury control of the CDC.
"We found that many of the attackers were known to the victims and in a position of trust," Logan said.
Dr. Ronan Factora, Chair of the American Geriatrics Society's Abuse and Abuse Interest Group, thinks the problem is probably worse than the report suggests.
"These data underestimate the extent of elder abuse in America," he said. "We probably underestimate the extent of physical violence because this study only used emergency department records."
Many more cases of abuse have probably been seen by private doctors or have never been reported, said Factora, who did not participate in the study. "It's really a small fraction that represents a bigger problem that is growing," he added.
The biggest problem is that most elder abuse is not recognized, said Factora. This is because there is no standard way to detect it or recognize it.
Factora, however, believes that elder abuse is gaining visibility, which may partly explain why it is on the rise.
"Over the years, elder abuse has become more important and therefore better detected," he said. "But the increase is not just a demographic problem."
Factora said that much of the abuse among people with physical or mental disabilities is perpetrated by caregivers who are stressed by the need to care for a loved one.
Nevertheless, "abuse can have lasting effects that are not reversible after a certain point," he said.
"People who need help with transportation, finances and drugs weigh heavily on caregivers," Factora said. According to the CDC report, it is the family members who have committed most of the violence.
"This is largely due to the care requirements that really stress them," said Factora.
Unfortunately, many older people are at risk because of their physical or mental condition and can not defend themselves, he said. The abuse is really related to addiction, explained Factora.
Help finding ways to cope with the burden of caring for someone is available. Perhaps if more people benefited from family caregiver programs, a lot of elder abuse could be stopped before it started, he suggested.
"The resources are there, the problem is to connect exhausted caregivers to resources that can help them," said Factora.
The best way to combat elder abuse is to become aware of all of its forms. This study focuses on physical abuse and killings, he said, but the abuses also include negligence and financial abuse.
Often, a person is the victim of several types of abuse. A physically abused person can also be neglected and financially exploited.
Factora thinks that if you see or suspect someone to be a victim of elder abuse, you should report it to the adult protection services.
"We need to find these cases, and once we have seen the magnitude of this epidemic, it could be an incentive to identify the abuses we do not see," he said. "What we see, it's the tip of the iceberg."
For the study, the researchers used data from the National Injury Surveillance System – All Injuries Program and the National Vital Statistics System in the United States to determine trends in assault and murder in men and women aged 60 and over.
The report was published on April 5 in the CDC's weekly report on morbidity and mortality.
More information
To learn more about elder abuse, visit the US National Institute on Aging.
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