Department of Community Health, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Department of Community Health, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2022 Feb 28;39(2):183-192.
Elder abuse is a growing concern globally and the consequences can be detrimental to the wellbeing of the elderly. In Nigeria, it is a hidden problem, under-reported with limited national response. This study compared the prevalence and pattern of elder abuse and its determinants between urban and rural communities in Benin-City.
A comparative cross-sectional analytical studywas conducted among 445 urban and 468 rural elderly respondents selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed by IBM SPSS version 23.0. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done with level of significance set at p<0.05.
The lifetime prevalence of elder abuse was 18.6% and 17.6% while the one-year prevalence was 14.7% and 13.3% in the rural and urban areas, respectively. The most common was psychological abuse (86.2% vs 84.2%) while the least was sexual abuse (3.4% vs 9.2%) in rural and urban areas, respectively. The predictors of elder abuse in the urban area were low level of education (aOR=2.080; 95%CI=1.031-4.196), poor social support (aOR=2.249; 95%CI=1.005-5.033) and social dissatisfaction (aOR=9.308; 95%CI=3.876-22.353) while predictors in the rural area included male gender (aOR=2.051; 95%CI=1.042-4.036), poor social support (aOR=3.555; 95%CI=1.642-7.696), social dissatisfaction (aOR=65.320; 95%CI=21.656-97.022) and good social network (aOR= 0.261; 95%CI=0.092-0.739).
Elder abuse is not uncommon in our environment and the pattern is in consonance with the global typologies. Appropriate strategies to raise awareness on this emerging public health concern and establishing a holistic policy to respond to the problem and care for the elderly are recommended.
虐待老年人是一个在全球范围内日益严重的问题，其后果可能对老年人的福祉造成不利影响。在尼日利亚，这是一个隐藏的问题，报告有限，国家反应也很有限。本研究比较了贝宁市城乡老年人虐待的流行程度和模式及其决定因素。
采用多阶段抽样技术，对 445 名城市和 468 名农村老年受访者进行了一项比较性横断面分析研究。使用结构化访谈员管理的问卷收集数据，并使用 IBM SPSS 版本 23.0 进行分析。采用描述性和推断性统计方法，显著性水平设为 p<0.05。
终身虐待老年人的患病率为 18.6%，农村和城市地区的一年患病率分别为 17.6%和 14.7%。农村和城市地区最常见的是心理虐待（86.2% vs 84.2%），而最不常见的是性虐待（3.4% vs 9.2%）。城市地区老年人虐待的预测因素是低教育水平（aOR=2.080；95%CI=1.031-4.196）、较差的社会支持（aOR=2.249；95%CI=1.005-5.033）和社会不满（aOR=9.308；95%CI=3.876-22.353），而农村地区的预测因素包括男性（aOR=2.051；95%CI=1.042-4.036）、较差的社会支持（aOR=3.555；95%CI=1.642-7.696）、社会不满（aOR=65.320；95%CI=21.656-97.022）和良好的社会网络（aOR=0.261；95%CI=0.092-0.739）。
虐待老年人在我们的环境中并不罕见，其模式与全球类型学一致。建议采取适当的策略提高对这一新兴公共卫生问题的认识，并制定全面的政策来应对这一问题和照顾老年人。
