Elder abuse awareness in Italy: analysis of reports to the Prosecutor Office of Bologna.

BACKGROUND

In Italy, the prevalence of elder abuse is estimated from 10 to 12.7 %. Even if the elderly are not specifically protected by the Italian Penal Code, it contains several articles punishing crimes against disadvantaged groups in which elders may be included. Article 572 about mistreatment of family members or cohabitants, and article 643 about circumvention of incapable best fit elder abuse or neglect and financial fraud and exploitation, respectively.

AIMS

To evaluate the prevalence of reported elder abuse in Bologna and province (Italy) compared to available data on prevalence obtained by population-based surveys.

METHODS

Reports to the Prosecutor Office about articles 572 and 643 in the period from 2000 to 2013 were collected and analyzed according to victim's age at the report time.

RESULTS

For article 572 a total of 3,713 reports were found. The prevalence of reports ranged from 0.005 to 0.024 % for victims older than 65 years. Concerning article 643 a total of 786 reports were detected, with a prevalence ranging from 0.007 to 0.016 % for victims older than 65 years.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

A large gap was found between reported crimes related to elder abuse and the estimated prevalence of elder abuse in Italy. Our results showed that in Italy efforts to improve strategic approach on elder abuse as well as research at various levels following the examples of other abusive situations are needed in both health and legal systems.