By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer

Almost 13 percent of elderly Americans are being verbally or financially mistreated, according to the first comprehensive study ever conducted on elder mistreatment in America.

Conducted by the University of Chicago, the research was in response to a call from the National Research Council for a comprehensive scientific study of elder mistreatment. The findings were reported in “Elder Mistreatment in the U.S.: Prevalence Estimates from a Nationally-Representative Study,” published in the current issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

“The population of the country is aging, and people now live with chronic diseases longer. So it’s important to understand, from a health perspective, how people are being treated as they age,” said lead author Edward Laumann, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor in Sociology at the University of Chicago.

More than 3,000 people aged 57 to 85 were asked to answer three questions about their treatment during the past 12 months: “Is there anyone who insults you or puts you down?” (verbal mistreatment); “Is there anyone who has taken your money or belongings without your OK or prevented you from getting them, even when you ask?” (financial mistreatment); and “Is there anyone who hits, kicks, slaps or throws things at you?” (physical mistreatment).

Dr. Laumann and his research team found that nine percent of adults reported verbal mistreatment, 3.5 percent reported financial mistreatment and 0.2 percent reported physical mistreatment.

Of the people reporting verbal mistreatment, 26 percent identified their spouse or romantic partner as being responsible, 15 percent said their children mistreated them verbally, while the remainder said that a friend, neighbor, co-worker or boss was responsible.

Among people who reported financial mistreatment, 57 percent reported someone other than a spouse, parent or child, usually another relative, was taking advantage of them.

Physical impairment also plays a role in mistreatment, the study found.

“Older people with any physical vulnerability are about 13 percent more likely than those without one to report verbal mistreatment . . .” said co-author Linda Waite, the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology at the University.

The study also found wide variations in mistreatment depending on age and ethnicity.

For instance, adults in their late 50s and 60s were more likely to report verbal or financial mistreatment than those who were older. “Perhaps the respondents are including fairly routine arguments, perhaps about money, with their spouse, sibling or child in their reports or perhaps older adults are more reticent to report negative behavior,” Laumann said.

Females were about twice as likely to report verbal mistreatment, but no higher level of financial mistreatment, than men; Latinos were about half as likely as whites to report verbal mistreatment and 78 percent less likely to report financial mistreatment; and blacks were 77 percent more likely to report financial mistreatment than whites.

Researchers say the results point to a need for sensitivity on the part of physicians and other medical personnel to the possibility, although infrequent, of physical mistreatment of their older patients.

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