JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Domestic violence (DV) among older adults is an understudied area, often overlapping with elder abuse, intimate partner violence, and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Objective:

This study aimed to examine the characteristics of older Persons of Interest (POIs) and victims involved in police-attended DV events in New South Wales, Australia, and assess associations with physical and non-physical abuse.

Methods:

Police records of 10,708 DV events involving 8,247 adults aged ≥55 years who were identified as POIs from 2005 to 2016 were analyzed using text-mining. A three-level mixed-effects logistic regression model was employed to identify predictors of physical and non-physical abuse.

Results:

Physical abuse accounted for a greater proportion of abuse events by female POIs aged ≥65 compared to females aged between 55 to 64 years and males, however, after stratified analysis, females had similarly elevated odds of physical abuse perpetration to males. Other factors associated with increased odds of perpetrating physical abuse were POIs with dementia, and alcohol-related events. Dementia increased odds of combined physical/non-physical abuse and substance use disorders increased the odds of events with combined physical and non-physical abuse.

Conclusions:

The findings of this study suggest that DV, including physical violence, is an important issue in later life. Alcohol is a situational factor and dementia is associated with perpetration and victimisation. The study highlights the need for clinicians to evaluate the risk of violence and victimization in patients with dementia and for policy interventions targeting alcohol and substance use in older adults.