Abstract
The scope of this work was to identify the prevalence of domestic violence against non-institutionalized elderly individuals, and to establish if violence is an independent factor associated with the Physical Component (PC) and Mental Component (MC) scores of the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of these elderly individuals. It is a cross-sectional epidemiologic and population-based investigation that is part of the SABE (Wellbeing, Health and Aging) study. A sample of 1,126 elderly individuals filled out the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) Health Survey, namely a generic instrument that assesses HRQOL through the Physical and Mental components. The prevalence of domestic violence against of the elderly was 10% (CI 95% 9.1-13.6). In the multiple analyses, violence against the elderly was significantly associated to the MC (β = -3.03; p = 0.000) and to the PC (β = -1.69; p = 0.017) of HRQOL, independently of the sociodemographic, health, family support, and functional incapacity covariables. The prevalence of domestic violence was high and compromised the physical and mental health of the elderly.
Key words
Quality of life; Elderly individuals; Mistreatment of the elderly