ITHACA, N.Y. – More than 1 in 10 older adults in New York state may become victims of elder mistreatment over the next decade, according to a new study from Cornell University and the University of Toronto.
In the study, researchers determined poor health is a major risk factor, and that people who transition to living alone are more likely to suffer financial abuse. Black older adults are also at higher risk of financial abuse, a previously unreported racial disparity.
Tracking the incidence of mistreatment over time among hundreds of older adults who hadn't previously been victims, the study confirms elder abuse is widespread and advances understanding of risk factors that should inform efforts to detect and prevent mistreatment, the researchers said.
"This study contributes to a growing base of evidence that elder mistreatment is a highly prevalent problem that demands a vigorous public health response," said senior author Karl Pillemer, professor of human development at Cornell and gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Previous studies have measured the prevalence of elder mistreatment at points in time, including estimates of 15.7% globally and 9.5% in the United States. But the research team said such snapshots could not draw strong conclusions about the causes of mistreatment, for example whether someone's poor health had led to abuse or resulted from abuse.
The new study followed older adults over a 10-year period. In 2019, the researchers followed up with nearly 630 participants in a 2009 survey conducted by several members of the research team, called the New York State Elder Mistreatment Study.
In the earlier survey, this sample reported no experience with mistreatment in five categories: financial abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse. But a decade later, 11.4% reported having become victims of elder mistreatment, the study found. Financial abuse was the most common type, affect 8.5% of respondents, followed by emotional abuse (4.1%), physical abuse (2.3%) and neglect (1%). No sexual abuse was reported.
