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The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in rural areas: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

To estimate the pooled prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in rural areas.

AbstractSection Findings

In this work, the pooled prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in rural areas was 33%. For the prevalence estimates of abuse and neglect subtypes, neglect was the highest, followed by psychological abuse, financial, physical and sexual abuse.

AbstractSection Message

In the context of global aging, there is an urgent need for high quality studies based on agreed definition of elder abuse and neglect in order to protect the potential high risk populations.

Abstract

Purpose

Many epidemiological studies have reported that elder abuse and neglect were prevalent in rural areas. However, none of them has synthesized the literature in this field. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the overall prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in rural areas through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods

PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were systematically searched to identify eligible articles, with no language restrictions. Statistical analyses were conducted using Review Manager software (version 5.3). Meta-analyses and sensitivity analysis were performed using a random-effects model. All results were reported as the pooled prevalence of elder and neglect with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The quality of the included studies was evaluated by strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. Potential publication bias was assessed by the funnel plot.

Results

13 cross-sectional studies involving 10,313 participants were eligible. The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect ranged from 4.5 to 61.7% across the rural areas, and pooled prevalence estimate was 33% (95% CI 23–43). The prevalence of physical abuse was estimated at 7% (95% CI 5–9), financial abuse at 5% (95% CI 4–7), psychological/emotional abuse at 17% (95% CI 11–23), and neglect at 26% (95% CI 17–35). There was significant heterogeneity among the included studies. Stratified analyses revealed that sampling design was part of the heterogeneity source. WHO regions, gender, countries’ income classification, and study quality could not explain the potential reasons for heterogeneity.

Conclusions

The pooled prevalence of elder abuse and neglect was relatively high in rural areas. Early and targeted screening and prevention are needed. There is an urgent need for high quality studies using agreed definition of elder abuse and neglect to protect the potential high risk populations.

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Author notes

  1. Li-ping Zhang and Ya-ge Du are co-first authors

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 10 Poyang Lake Road, West Area of Tuanbo New Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, 301617, China

    Li-ping Zhang, Hao-ying Dou & Jie Liu

  2. School of Nursing, Peking University, 38 College Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China

    Ya-ge Du

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  1. Li-ping Zhang
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Contributions

Study concept and design: LZ and HD; material preparation and data collection: LZ, YD and JL; data analysis and interpretation: LZ and YD; drafted and critically revised the manuscript: LZ, YD and HD.

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Correspondence to Hao-ying Dou.

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Zhang, Lp., Du, Yg., Dou, Hy. et al. The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in rural areas: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Geriatr Med 13, 585–596 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-022-00628-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-022-00628-2

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