Ana João Santos

European map of prevalence rates of elder abuse and its impact for future research

This article aims to map existing prevalence research on abuse and neglect of older people and to provide a critical overview of existing methodologies, which have been adopted to survey the prevalence rates of abuse against elders. This article is part of the prevalence study of Abuse and Violence against Older Women (AVOW) study, which was conducted in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Portugal). The article provides an overview of the state of the art of prevalence data, survey designs and methods, instruments and results in Europe. Therefore, this draws on an extensive literature search and qualitative content analysis, which was conducted as an early part of the AVOW study. Results indicate that some EU countries have a rich history of prevalence research, whereas other countries have just begun to tackle this aspect of research on of elder abuse. One of the lacunae concerns reliable numbers on the prevalence rates of elder abuse. Research about where, when and how often elder abuse occurs, is inadequate and inconsistent. Data in some cases are based on professionals’ reports rather than on information from older people themselves. Surveying elders about such a sensitive topic, however, implies the need for an adequate research instrument (questionnaire) and research design, and an adapted data collection method. In conclusion, substantial attention is paid to outlining possible guidelines for future research.

Elder Abuse in Portugal: Findings From the First National Prevalence Study

In this study, we present findings of the Portuguese national prevalence study, “Aging and Violence,” the purpose of which was to estimate the prevalence of abuse and neglect of older people in family settings over a 12-month period and examine the relationship between abuse and sociodemographic and health characteristics. Through a telephone survey of a representative probability sample (N = 1,123), we evaluated 12 abusive behaviors and demographic data. Overall, 12.3% of older adults experienced elder abuse in family settings. The prevalence rates of specific types were as follows: psychological, 6.3%; financial, 6.3%; physical, 2.3%; neglect, 0.4%; and sexual, 0.2%. Logistic regression was employed to determine the relationship between abuse and covariates. The study suggests that education level, age, and functional status are significantly associated with abuse. Accurate estimates of the prevalence of elder abuse and understanding of victim and perpetrator characteristics are fundamental to designing effective strategies for prevention and intervention.

Perpetrators of abuse against older women: a multi‐national study in Europe

Purpose – This article aims to explore the perpetrators of abuse among older women living in the community. The study examines whether differences between the perpetrators of different forms of abuse, and for different groups of older women (e.g. by income or age groups) can be detected. Finally, it aims to investigate whether older women talk about the abuse to family or friends, or report it to an official or formal agency, in relation to different perpetrators.Design/methodology/approach – This article provides results from the prevalence study of Abuse and Violence against Older Women in Europe (AVOW‐study). The study involved scientific partners from five EU countries: Finland, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, and Portugal. In these five countries, the same study was conducted during 2010. In total, 2,880 older women living in the community were interviewed during the course of the study.Findings – The results indicate that 28.1per cent of older women across all countries have experienced some kind of vi...

A new effective assay to detect antimicrobial activity of filamentous fungi.

The search for new antimicrobial compounds and the optimization of production methods turn the use of antimicrobial susceptibility tests a routine. The most frequently used methods are based on agar diffusion assays or on dilution in agar or broth. For filamentous fungi, the most common antimicrobial activity detection methods comprise the co-culture of two filamentous fungal strains or the use of fungal extracts to test against single-cell microorganisms. Here we report a rapid, effective and reproducible assay to detect fungal antimicrobial activity against single-cell microorganisms. This method allows an easy way of performing a fast antimicrobial screening of actively growing fungi directly against yeast. Because it makes use of an actively growing mycelium, this bioassay also provides a way for studying the production dynamics of antimicrobial compounds by filamentous fungi. The proposed assay is less time consuming and introduces the innovation of allowing the direct detection of fungal antimicrobial properties against single cell microorganisms without the prior isolation of the active substance(s). This is particularly useful when performing large screenings for fungal antimicrobial activity. With this bioassay, antimicrobial activity of Hypholoma fasciculare against yeast species was observed for the first time.

Prevalência da violência contra as pessoas idosas: uma revisão crítica da literatura

Os estudos de prevalencia sobre a violencia contra as pessoas idosas, em contexto familiar, desenvolvidos nas tres ultimas decadas, especialmente na Europa e paises anglo-saxonicos, nao sao suficientemente esclarecedores, por insuficiencias na definicao dos modelos teoricos e nos conceitos operatorios. Neste artigo de revisao sistematica da literatura identifica-se a diversidade de definicoes e desenhos de investigacao, com impacto inevitavel nas variacoes das estimativas. Tambem a percecao da opiniao publica europeia sobre o problema colide com os baixos valores estimados. Procurar-se-a refletir sobre as razoes subjacentes a essas representacoes e refletir criticamente sobre as estimativas dos estudos de prevalencia de base populacional.Os estudos de prevalencia sobre a violencia contra as pessoas idosas, em contexto familiar, desenvolvidos nas tres ultimas decadas, especialmente na Europa e paises anglo-saxonicos, nao sao suficientemente esclarecedores, por insuficiencias na definicao dos modelos teoricos e nos conceitos operatorios. Neste artigo de revisao sistematica da literatura identifica-se a diversidade de definicoes e desenhos de investigacao, com impacto inevitavel nas variacoes das estimativas. Tambem a percecao da opiniao publica europeia sobre o problema colide com os baixos valores estimados. Procurar-se-a refletir sobre as razoes subjacentes a essas representacoes e refletir criticamente sobre as estimativas dos estudos de prevalencia de base populacional.

Development of a culture sensitive prevalence study on older adults violence: qualitative methods contribution

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how qualitative approaches can improve a prevalence study on older adults’ violence. The paper describes how qualitative data can help frame a complex and multidimensional problem, such as older adults’ violence, within the culture where it happens and therefore prevent two risks present in prevalence studies: underestimation and overestimation. Design/methodology/approach – To adequately measure violence and violent behaviours the authors first conducted four focus groups with the target population – older adults aged 60 and over – and 13 in-depth interviews with older adult victims of violence. Through content analysis of focus groups and in-depth interviews the authors sought to understand how violence is perceived, defined and limited by the general population and by victims. Findings – By employing qualitative methods the authors were able to operationalise violence, decide upon and select specific behaviours to measure, rephrase questions and deve...

Estudo sobre pessoas idosas vítimas de violência em Portugal: sociografia da ocorrência

O presente artigo apresenta dados sobre violencia contra pessoas com 60 e mais anos residentes em Portugal ha mais de 12 meses. O estudo transversal e descritivo recolheu dados por meio de um questionario aplicado presencialmente a vitimas que recorreram a tres entidades governamentais e a uma instituicao nao-governamental de apoio a vitimas. A amostra nao probabilistica foi constituida por 510 vitimas de violencia em contexto familiar. A violencia fisica e a psicologica foram os tipos mais reportados, afetando 87,8% e 69,6% das pessoas estudadas, seguindo-se a violencia financeira (47,5%), sexual (7,5%) e a negligencia (6,5%). A maioria (74,1%) dos respondentes indicou mais de um tipo de violencia. As vitimas, na maioria mulheres, tinham uma media de idade de 70,7 anos. A maioria dos agressores pertencia a familia nuclear, nomeadamente, conjuges ou companheiros, filhos/enteados e filhas/enteadas. Contudo, observaram-se diferencas no agressor consoante o genero da vitima. Os resultados indicam que a violencia nao e um fenomeno uniforme, apresentando-se sob diferentes configuracoes.This article presents data on violence against persons aged 60 years or older and living in Portugal for at least 12 months. The cross-sectional descriptive study collected data with a face-to-face questionnaire applied to victims that had sought assistance at three government institutions and one non-governmental support service for victims. The non-probabilistic sample included 510 victims of violence in family settings. Physical and psychological violence were the most common (87.8% and 69.6%, respectively). Financial violence was reported by 47.5% of the victims, followed by sexual assault (7.5%) and neglect (6.5%). The majority of victims (74.1%) reported more than one type of violence. Victims were mostly women, and mean age was 70.7 years. Most of the perpetrators belonged to the nuclear family, namely spouses or partners, sons/sons-in-law, and daughters/daughters-in-law. However, differences were observed according to victims gender. The results indicate that violence is not a uniform phenomenon, presenting different configurations.

Prevalence of older adults' abuse and neglect in Portugal: an overview

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, describe and compare the studies of the prevalence of abuse and neglect of older adults developed in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach – A retrospective bibliographic search of seven descriptors in English and Portuguese, of academic and professional papers and university institutional repositories was performed. Findings – Of the nine studies selected, seven consisted of grey literature – research developed within the course of academic post-graduate studies. The studies were conducted on a small scale, more often than not, through a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method. From the nine studies, two instruments prevailed: the Questions to Elicit Elder Abuse aimed at older adults and the Caregiver Abuse Screen aimed at caregivers. Community-dwelling older adults self-reported a higher prevalence of abuse (between 66.7 and 86.7 per cent) than care professionals working with older adults suffering from dementia (between 26.7 and 47.4 per cent). Emotional abuse and neglect were the first and second most prevalent forms of abuse, followed by financial abuse, whereas physical abuse was the least prevalent type of abuse encountered. A poorer perception of health, not making/receiving visits and residing in an urban area were the more consistent variables associated with abuse of older adults. Originality/value – Overall, this paper provides a first consideration to the prevalence rates of older adult abuse and neglect from research studies in Portugal. The revised design studies and screening methods employed can help researchers improve future study design and move from the description to a more theoretically oriented research. Furthermore, it can help practitioners learn screening methods and discover the findings associated with abuse.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Portugal: Results from the First Portuguese Health Examination Survey (INSEF 2015)

Obesity is recognised as a serious public health issue, due to its associated morbidity and mortality. This study aimed at estimating the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Portuguese population through direct measurements obtained by the 1st National Health Examination Survey (INSEF 2015) and to identify its associated sociodemographic factors. INSEF was a nationally representative cross-sectional prevalence study conducted on 4911 Portuguese adults aged 25-74 years, in 2015. Height and weight were measured according to the European Health Examination Survey procedures. Poisson regression was used to estimate the adjusted prevalence ratios of overweight and obesity according to age, marital status, occupational activity, education, urbanization of living area and smoking status. Overall prevalences of overweight and obesity were 39.1% and 28.6%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight was higher among men (45.5% vs 33.2%) while the prevalence of obesity was higher among women (32% vs 25%). The sociodemographic factors associated with overweight and obesity were age, marital status and education. Smoking status was associated with overweight and obesity but only in women. INSEF suggests that a high prevalences of overweight and obesity are found in older individuals, married, with lower education levels and non-smoking women. Public health interventions are urgently required for obesity prevention, namely throughout health literacy strategies.

Psychological elder abuse: measuring severity levels or potential family conflicts?

Purpose Psychological elder abuse (PEA) assessment is described with different thresholds. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the prevalence of PEA and the phenomenon’s characterisation varied using two different thresholds. Design/methodology/approach Participants from the cross-sectional population-based study, Aging and Violence (n=1,123), answered three questions regarding PEA. The less strict measure considered PEA as a positive response to any of the three evaluated behaviours. The stricter measure comprised the occurrence, for more than ten times, of one or more behaviours. A multinomial regression compared cases from the two measures with non-victims. Findings Results show different prevalence rates and identified perpetrators. The two most prevalent behaviours (ignoring/refusing to speak and verbal aggression) occurred more frequently (>10 times). Prevalence nearly tripled for “threatening” from the stricter measure (>10 times) to the less strict (one to ten times). More similarities, rather than differences, were found between cases of the two measures. The cohabiting variable differentiated the PEA cases from the two measures; victims reporting abuse >10 times were more likely to be living with a spouse or with a spouse and children. Research limitations/implications Development of a valid and reliable measure for PEA that includes different ranges is needed. Originality/value The study exemplifies how operational definitions can impact empirical evidence and the need for researchers to analyse the effect of the definitional criteria on their outcomes, since dichotomization between victim and non-victim affects the phenomenon characterisation.