Mistreatment of Older Adults and associated Psychological Distress: Findings of a Pilot Study Srinivasan Muthuvenkatachalam1,*, Gupta Sandhya2,* 1Lecturer, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi 2Faculty, College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi *Corresponding Author Email: muthu.venky@gmail.com
*drsandhyag407@gmail.com
Online published on 24 October, 2018. Abstract Data collected from 30 older persons in a semi-urban community was analysed to determine the mistreatment of older persons and associated psychological distress. Elder Abuse Instrument (EAI) and Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K10) were used to assess the participants. The mean age of the subjects was 67.37 (4.04) years. Three out of 30 participants (10%) had possible evidence of abuse. Every four out of ten participants (40%) assessed to have possible evidence of neglect and 10% had probable evidence of neglect. Majority (53%) of the subjects were assessed to have some evidence of caregiver's negligence. One fifth of the elderly (20%) showed either probable or possible evidence of exploitation while more than one fourth (27%) showed evidence of abandonment. The psychological distress was significantly higher among elderly who were assessed to have possible/probable/definite evidence of mistreatment. Elderly aged above 70 years and widowed elderly were more likely to be exploited. Top Keywords Psychological, Exploitation, Abandonment. Top |