The Prevalence of Self-Reported Elder Abuse Among Older Women in Community Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The abuse of older women appears to be a significant problem. Developing a better understanding of the extent of the problem is an important step toward preventing it. We conducted a global systematic review and meta-analysis of existing prevalence studies, in multiple languages, that occurred in the community settings from inception to June 26, 2015, in order to determine the extent of abuse against women aged 60 years and over. To disentangle the wide variations in prevalence estimates, we also investigated the associations between prevalence estimates and studies' demographic and methodological characteristics. A total of 50 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The combined prevalence for overall elder abuse in the past year was 14.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) [11.0, 18.0]). Pooled prevalence for psychological abuse was 11.8% (95% CI [9.2%, 14.9%]), neglect was 4.1% (95% CI [2.7%, 6.3%]), financial abuse was 3.8% (95% CI [2.5%, 5.5%]), sexual abuse was 2.2% (95% CI [1.6%, 3.0%]), and physical abuse was 1.9% (95% CI [1.2%, 3.1%]). The studies included in the meta-analysis for overall abuse were heterogeneous indicating that significant differences among the prevalence estimates exist. Significant associations were found between prevalence estimates and the following covariates: World Health Organization-defined regions, countries' income classification, and sample size. Together, these covariates explained 37% of the variance. Although robust prevalence studies are sparse in low- and middle-income countries, about 1 in 6, or 68 million older women experience abuse worldwide. More work is needed to understand the variation in prevalence rates and implications for prevention.