Table 1.
Characteristics of Elders Reported for Self-neglect or Abuse in a Community-Dwelling Populationa
| Self-neglect (n = 1544) |
Elder Abuse (n = 113) |
Neither (n = 7728) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), y | 73.7 (6.6) | 75.3 (6.8) | 73.1 (7.0) |
| Male sex | 530 (34.3) | 20 (17.7) | 3169 (41.0) |
| Black race | 1356 (87.8) | 102 (90.3) | 4515 (58.4) |
| Education (years completed), mean (SD) | 11.1 (3.4) | 10.2 (3.3) | 12.4 (3.6) |
| Yearly income, $b 0–9999 |
416 (26.9) | 33 (29.2) | 1025 (13.3) |
| 10 000–19 000 | 549 (35.6) | 51 (45.1) | 1944 (25.1) |
| 20 000–29 999 | 297 (19.2) | 12 (10.6) | 1553 (20.1) |
| ≥30 000 | 202 (13.1) | 9 (8.0) | 2230 (28.9) |
| Married | 708 (45.9) | 35 (30.9) | 3914 (50.6) |
| Weight loss, mean (SD), kg | 1.6 (4.3) | 1.7 (4.8) | <1.0 (3.2) |
| Cigarette smoking (ever) | 849 (55.0) | 49 (43.4) | 4149 (53.7) |
| Alcohol use (>12 drinks in last 12 mo) | 331 (21.4) | 20 (17.7) | 2808 (36.3) |
| Medical conditions Cardiovascular disease |
283 (18.3) | 24 (21.2) | 1123 (14.5) |
| Hypertension | 999 (64.7) | 69 (61.1) | 4417 (57.2) |
| Cancer | 302 (19.6) | 15 (13.3) | 1476 (19.1) |
| Stroke | 207 (13.4) | 22 (19.5) | 754 (9.8) |
| Thyroid disease | 105 (6.8) | 4 (3.5) | 394 (5.1) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 413 (26.7) | 35 (31.0) | 1501 (19.4) |
| Parkinson disease | 18 (1.2) | 2 (1.8) | 84 (1.1) |
| Hip fracture | 54 (3.5) | 5 (4.4) | 291 (3.8) |
| Test scores, mean (SD) Mini-Mental State Examination (score range, 0–30) |
25.2 (5.1) | 23.8 (5.2) | 26.2 (5.2) |
| Global cognition (score range, −4.31 to 1.93) | −0.09 (0.81) | −0.36 (0.80) | 0.19 (0.84) |
| Katz impairment (score range, 0–6) | 0.4 (1.2) | 0.7 (1.4) | 0.3 (1.1) |
| Nagi impairment (score range, 0–5) | 1.4 (1.5) | 1.6 (1.6) | 0.9 (1.4) |
| Physical performance (score range, 0–15) | 8.99 (3.82) | 7.53 (4.32) | 10.48 (3.69) |
| Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (score range, 0–10) |
2.0 (2.3) | 2.5 (2.6) | 1.5 (1.9) |
| Median (25–75th percentiles) | 1 (0–3) | 2 (0–4) | 1 (0–2) |
| Social network (score range, 0–81) | 6.9 (5.9) | 5.6 (4.8) | 7.5 (6.4) |
a
Values are expressed as number (percentage) unless otherwise indicated.
b
Missing data for 80 individuals in the elder self-neglect group, 8 individuals in the elder abuse group, and 976 individuals in the neither group.