Mistreatment of elderly persons in the extended family setting: a survey in the French Department "Nord"

OBJECTIVE: Mistreatment of elderly subjects is a serious problem which has not been given much attention in France and Europe. We therefore undertook this work to examine the situation in our region. PATIENTS METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the French depar tment "Nord". Different institutions in the health care network with facili ties for caring for 2,668 elderly patients participated in the study, The d ay of the survey, we looked for persons over the age of 60 years with a cer tain or strongly suspected diagnosis of mistreatment The data presented her e concern only violence or neglect occurring in an extended family setting (family, friends, neighbors) and exclude all cases of violence or neglect o ccurring in an institutional setting. Data were collected using anonymous q uestionnaires filled out by professional teams working in the different ins titutions. RESULTS: Six percent of the study population had suffered mistreatment. In 76% of the cases, the mistreated person was a woman. Violence was the most frequently encountered situation, including psychological violence, althoug h all forms were observed. Among the mistreatment victims, 77% showed signs of psychiatric or behavioral disorders and 95% were physically dependent I n 76% of the cases, the person responsible for the mistreatment was a membe r of the family. CONCLUSION: Mistreatment of elderly persons is a reality occurring frequent ly enough to be a major concern. Recognition of the problem and talking abo ut this taboo subject must be the first step to a remedy. Health care and s ocial workers do not receive sufficient training to handle all the complex situations raised by mistreatment of elderly persons.