Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.

First author	Publication year	Study location–country (region)	Research question(s)	Sample (number, age range)	Data collection method and analysis method	Type(s) of violence and perpetrator(s)
Agoff	2006	Mexico (AMRO)	To identify personal, cultural, and institutional factors that hinder resolution of domestic violence, to identify factors that facilitate the violence.	26; Age range: 26–72	Open-ended face-to-face interview; analysis guided by grounded theory, focusing on two aspects: subjective perceptions of violence and barriers to overcoming violence	IPV–any type
						Male partner
Ayres	2001	United States (AMRO)	How do you define the concept of abuse within the context of ageing women who are at risk for or experiencing physical or emotional injury inflicted by elderly family members for whom they provide care?	11	Transcripts of first session of a community-based intervention; concept analysis	Elder abuse–Verbal, physical, emotional abuse
				50 and older for caregiver; 55 and older for elderly family member		Elderly family member receiving care (spouses or parents)
Band-Winterstein	2009	Israel (EURO)	How is intimate violence shaped and how does it change throughout the lives of older battered women? How is continuous IPV experienced in old age and how age and violence interact and change throughout the life span	40 couples; Age range: 60–84	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; content analysis	IPV–Physical, emotional, economic, psychological
						Male partner
Band-Winterstein	2010	Israel (EURO)	What are the unique experiences of old battered women from the dimensions of intentionality of the body in time and space?	25; Age range: 60–84	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; content analysis	IPV–physical, emotional
						Male partners
Band-Winterstein	2010	Israel (EURO)	What are various perceptions of the attempts to forgive others and the self throughout this lifelong process, as described by older women who have lived with intimate partner violence? What are the lived experiences of forgiveness of older abused women throughout a life of IPV?	21; Age range: 60–80	Face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews; content analysis	IPV–physical, emotional
						Male partners
Band- Winterstein	2012	Israel (EURO)	Explore the constructions of aging in intimate partner violence as narratives of couplehood or narratives of old age; explore how couples, who are living in lifelong IPV, constructed aging in IPV.	N = 30 (15 couples, n = 15 women)	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; dyadic analysis approach focused on identifying overlap and contrast in the couple data; analyzed transcripts as whole life story, then performed separate categorical-content analysis consistent with the narrative approach.	IPV–physical, sexual
				Male partner		Age range: 62–84
Band-Winterstein	2014	Israel (EURO)	How do parents experience their aging process in the context of being abused by their adult children with mental disorder? How do they describe the influence of the aging process on the relationship dynamics? How does living in such shared reality impacts their aging needs?	16 parents (11 mothers); Age range: 58–94	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; content analysis in phenomenological method	Family violence—physical, emotional abuse, financial, neglect
						Adult children with mental disorders
Band- Winterstein	2015	Israel (EURO)	What is the lived experience of elderly women with lifelong IPV?	31	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; phenomenological analysis	IPV–physical, sexual, emotional, economic
				Age range: 60–84		Male partner
Band- Winterstein	2015	Israel (EURO)	What are the subjective experiences of family members involved in violent, abusive, and neglecting relationships?	11 dyads (parent and child); Age range of parents: 65–90	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; thematic analysis–identifying the basic components of the experience and placing them into units of meaning according to the study aim, coding and conceptualizing into unique theoretical categories, and organizing main themes and describing the reciprocal relations between them	Family violence/ elder abuse–physical violence, verbal aggression, financial exploitation, and forms of neglect.
			What is an abusive relationship? What does it mean to suffer? What are the perceptions of those who are being abused? What are the elements that make life in abuse possible? How do actors involved in the drama of abuse give coherence of their life?			Child
Band-Winterstein	2019	Israel (EURO)	To differentiate between the lived experience of two groups of women caregiving for a partner with dementia; One group was coping with lifelong IPV and dementia-related violence (Group 1); the other group was coping with dementia-related violence only (Group 2).	16; Age range: 63–84	In-depth, semi-structured face-to-face phenomenological interviews; Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA)	IPV–physical, sexual, verbal
						Male partner
Barbosa	2015	Brazil (AMRO)	To understand the impact of sexual violence suffered by women with mental disorders based on self-reports of these experiences.	17; Age range: 18–68	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; structured narration analysis	IPV–sexual, physical
Bhatia	2019	India (SEARO)	To unearth the causes of partner violence in later life, to understand the patterns of partner violence in later life and to understand psychological and social consequences faced by women undergoing partner violence in later life.	38; Age range: 50 and above	Face-to-face in-depth interviews (4) and focus group discussions (2); Analysis methods not described	IPV and family violence–physical, emotional, financial
						Husband, male partner, other relatives
Buchbinder	2003	Israel (EURO)	Describe and analyze the experiences and perceptions of older battered women in coping with and surviving the violence.	20; Age range: 60–80	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; content analysis in phenomenological method	IPV–physical, psychological, and sexual
						Male partner
Chane	2015	Ethiopia (AFRO)	What is the lived experience of abused elders and how can we increase understanding of elder abuse?	15 (9 women); Age range: 64–93	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; interpretative phenomenological analysis informed by hermeneutic phenomenology	Family violence/ elder abuse–financial, physical, psychological
						Family members, community members
Chane	2015	Ethiopia (AFRO)	What are the types and nature of abuse and neglect from the perspective of elders in Ethiopia who experienced abuse in noninstitutional settings?	15 total, 9 women; 64–85	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; coding following interpretative phenomenological analysis approach	Family violence/ elder abuse–financial, physical, psychological
						Family members, community members
Cheung	2015	Hong Kong (WPRO)	How does IPV victimization manifest itself among older women?	2; 63 and 69	Not described; not described	IPV–Verbal, physical, controlling behaviours, financial, emotional
						Male partners
Cronin	2013	USA (AMRO)	How do women make meaning with their experiences with domestic violence; The focus of this study is women’s lives after violence, and the ways in which they have coped with the challenges of living and aging.	15; Age range: 60–89	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; narrative life history approach to coding	IPV–Physical controlling behaviours, verbal, emotional, financial control
						Male partners
de Menezes	2013	Brazil (AMRO)	To analyze the aggressive behavior in the relationship between elderly with symptoms of dementia and their family caregivers.	4 couples–each pair aggressor and caregiver; Age range of caregivers: 68–77	Semi-structured interviews; thematic content analysis	IPV and family violence–physical, threats, psychological
						Elderly receiving care
Eisikovits	2015	Israel (EURO)	What are the ways in which young and old battered women perceive, understand and experience suffering from violence, how do they build these experiences into the central theme of their life and how do they reconstruct them in a manner that makes their lives livable?	17; Age range: 60–84	Semi-structured in-depth interviews; content analysis	IPV–physical, psychological
						Male partners, husbands
Fakari	2013	Iran (EMRO)	Describe daily life experience (of violence against older women) just in the same way they occurred in reality.	13; mean age 62	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; “holistic methods of analysis”	IPV and elder abuse–physical and psychological, financial exploitation
						Not stated
Grunfeld	1996	Canada (AMRO)	How does violence impact the lives of elderly women?	4; Age range: 63–73	Face-to-face open-ended in-depth interviews; thematic analysis	IPV and family violence–physical, emotional, financial, controlling behaviours
						Husbands, children and grandchildren
Guruge	2010	Canada (AMRO)	What are older immigrant women’s experiences and responses to abuse and neglect?	43; Age range: 48–85	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	IPV and family violence–emotional, physical, sexual, financial abuse, neglect, controlling behaviours
						Husbands, children, children-in-law
Hightower	2006	Canada (AMRO)	What is the experience of violence and abuse of women aged 50 and older?	64; Age range: 50–87	Interviews and group sessions; not described	IPV and family violence–financial, sexual, physical, emotional/ psychological, controlling behaviours
						Male partners and other family members
Lazenbatt	2013	UK (EURO)	How do older women with an abusive partner for more than 30 years cope with domestic violence and how does it affect their wellbeing?	18; Age range: 53–72	Face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews; thematic analysis	IPV–physical, psychological, controlling behaviours
						Male partner
Lazenbatt	2014	UK (EURO)	How ‘older women’ cope with domestic violence and how it affects their wellbeing, using a theoretical framework of ‘salutogenesis’ to consider coping resources used in lifelong abuse	18; Age range: 53–72	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; thematic framework analysis based on ‘salutogenesis’ theoretical dimensions were used to explore their ‘wellbeing and coping’	IPV–physical, psychological/ emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial exploitation
						Male partner
Lichtenstein	2009	United States (AMRO)	To identify barriers to reporting domestic violence to law enforcement among older African American women in the rural south. How does age, ethnicity, and gender intersect with rurality and systems such as old boys’ networks in creating barriers to reporting domestic violence to law enforcement?	15; Age range: 50–84	Focus group discussions (2); constant comparison method	IPV–physical, verbal
						Husband
Lowenstein	1999	Israel (EURO)	To describe possible reasons for the phenomenon of elder spousal abuse in second marriages, and to identify possible risk factors for abuse based on reports by remarried elderly who were victims of spousal abuse	12 couples, of which 9 of the women were victims of spousal abuse; 60+	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; coding–not described further	IPV–physical, controlling/ psychological
						Partners
McGarry	2010	United Kingdom (EURO)	What are women’s experiences of domestic abuse and what is its effect on their health and lives?	16; Age range: 59–84	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; iterative approach and informed by the analytic hierarchy model	IPV–physical, emotional, sexual, Male partner
McGarry	2014	United Kingdom (EURO)	What are the service responses to abuse among older people across a range of sectors? What are the perspectives of older people either as survivors of abuse or as older people with an interest in service development?	3; Age range: 60–65	Semi-structured phone interviews; Analytic Hierarchy Mode and constant comparative method	Elder abuse, family violence and IPV
						Any
Montminy	2005	Canada (AMRO)	How is psychological violence against older women experienced in the marital context?	15; Age range: 60–81	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; manifest content analysis	IPV–psychological
						Male partner
Nahmiash	2004	Canada (AMRO)	What is the interacting relationship between the environmental context of care giving and abuse and neglect of older adults.	16 participants (14 victims, 2 abusers); 12 of the 14 victims were female; Age range: 61–78	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; content analysis	Elder abuse–sexual, physical
						Care-givers and/ or partners
Pillemer	2011	USA (AMRO)	What are the major forms of resident to resident aggression that occur in nursing homes?	53 units in 3 facilities, 122 events identified; no age range specified	Identified all resident-to-resident aggression events in several nursing homes over 2 week period through resident interview, certified nursing assistant interview, and interviewer observation; sorted events into categories	Elder abuse
						Other residents or nursing homes
Ramsey-Klawsnik	2003	USA (AMRO)	What are the patterns of elder sexual abuse, both marital and incestuous? What are the abuse dynamics, problems confronting victims, and perpetrator characteristics?	130 cases (consultation files); not specified	Review of consultation files from Protective Services Program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs; analysis method not described beyond “qualitatively analysed”	IPV and elder abuse–sexual
						Partner, caregiver, family members
Richards	2013	Uganda (AFRO)	How women’s and men’s gendered experiences from childhood to old age have shaped their vulnerability in relation to HIV both in terms of their individual risk of HIV and their access to and experiences of HIV services	Total 31; 16 women. Age range: 60 and over	Face-to-face in-depth interviews and FGDs; framework approach to coding	IPV–physical, sexual and psychological
						Male partners
Roberto	2013	USA (AMRO)	What are the issues facing rural older women who wish to lead safe and violence-free lives and to identify the com-munity support needed to help them successfully rebuild their lives.	10; Age range: 54–70	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; not described	IPV–emotional, physical and sexual
						Male partners
Roberto	2018	USA (AMRO)	How women experienced IPV over the course of their lives and in different contexts; what resources were helpful when older women exited abusive partnerships	10; Age range: 54–70	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; open coding and focused coding	IPV–Emotional, physical, financial exploitation
						Male partners
Ron	1999	Israel (EURO)	What are the main factors, particularly social factors such as the need for intimacy and sexuality, which cause tension among elderly remarried couples and lead to abuse by the spouses?	12 couples, of which 9 of the women were victims of spousal abuse; 60+	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; coding–not described further	IPV–verbal, emotional, physical, financial exploitation, caregiver neglect
						Partner
Rosen	2019	United States (AMRO)	To analyze legal records to describe in detail acute precipitants of physical elder abuse.	87 cases; Age range: 60–95	Analyzed narratives from police reports of acute physical elder abuse; cross-case analysis of narratives in police reports to identify codes, coded narratives	IPV and family violence–physical
						Child, spouse/ companion, grand child
Ruelas-Gonzalez	2014	Mexico (AMRO)	To analyze health care providers and older patients’ perceptions about elder abuse by health personnel of public health services.	6 older women; Age range: 65–87	Semi-structured interviews; analysis using grounded theory approach, content analysis.	Elder abuse–neglect, psychological violence, discrimination
						Health care professionals and caregivers
Schaffer	2008	Australia (WPRO)	What are the needs of older and isolated women who live with domestic violence?	90; Age range: 50–78	Phone-in–asked women to call in and tell their stories to a nation-wide call in service; some “personal” and “group” interviews; analysis method not described	IPV–type(s) not specified
						Male partner
Sawin	2011	USA (AMRO)	What are the experiences of older women diagnosed with breast cancer while experiencing intimate partner abuse?	11; Age range: 51–84	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; coding following hermeneutic phenomenological strategy of inquiry	IPV–financial control, psychological control
						Male partner
Smith	2015	USA (AMRO)	How older women/mothers understand and respond to their adult children who are abusive and/or “difficult”; How older low-income women make sense of their adult children’s problems.	15; Age Range: 62 and older	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; coding (type not specified)	Family violence–disrespect, physical and psychological
						Adult child
Souto	2015	Brazil (AMRO)	What are older Brazilian women’s experiences of psychological domestic violence? How do older Brazilian women experience their daily life when they are victims of psychological domestic violence? How do older Brazilian women respond to psychological domestic violence? What are older Brazilian women’s needs, expectations, and aims in dealing with the psychological domestic violence in their lives?	11; Age range: 66–85	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; Schutz’s motivation theory used as framework for thematic coding	Family violence and IPV–psychological violence, including verbal abuse, financial abuse, neglect
						Male partner, family members
Souto	2019	Canada (AMRO)	How is IPV experienced by Portuguese-speaking older immigrant women? How is women’s daily life related to IPV? How does this group respond to IPV situations? What are these women’s needs, expectations, and aims in dealing with IPV?	10; Age range: 60–81	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; Schutz’s motivation theory used as framework for thematic coding	IPV–physical, sexual, emotional, economic abuse, controlling behaviours
						Male partner
Spencer	2019	Canada (AMRO)	How family carers of persons with cognitive impairment respond to fear, intimidation, and violence, over time and across different settings	10; Age range: 23–83, median age 64 (only results attributed to women aged 50 and above included in review analysis)	Participants kept weekly diary of interactions with person for who they provided care, and follow-up interview following completion of diary; narrative analysis	IPV and family violence–physical, verbal, emotional
						Husband with dementia (7); mother (3)
Teaster	2006	USA (AMRO)	What is the trajectory of, and community responses to, violence in late life? Aim is to further understanding of IPV in rural communities by examining responses to violence from the perspective of aging women, as well as those entities intervening in their cases (e.g., APS caseworkers, women’s shelters, law enforcement).	10: Age range: 50–69	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; open coding and then applied coding scheme developed	IPV–controlling behaviours, physical, verbal, emotional
						Male partners
Tetterton	2011	USA (AMRO)	What are effective interventions for women above the age of 60 who have experienced IPV? What are the experiences of older women who experienced IPV?	1; Age range: 63–65	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; generated case studies from data and used phenomenological approach to conduct thematic analysis	IPV and family violence–physical, emotional
						Male partner and adult son
Yan	2015	Hong Kong (WPRO)	What are the factors associated with help-seeking behaviors among mistreated elders in Hong Kong?	40 total, 26 women; Age range: 60–81	Face-to-face in-depth interviews; grounded theory approach to coding	IPV and family violence–physical, psychological, neglect, financial exploitation, sexual
						Partner, family members
Zink	2003	USA (AMRO)	What are older women’s reasons for remaining in abusive relationships?	36; Age range: 55–90	Interviews–some face-to-face, some on telephone; coded using thematic analysis techniques	IPV–physical, emotional, sexual, financial abuse
						Male partner
Zink	2004	USA (AMRO)	What are the experiences and needs of older victims of IPV in the health care setting?	38; Age range: 55–90	Interviews–some face-to-face, some on telephone; coded using immersion crystallization technique	IPV–physical, emotional, financial, sexual
						Male partner
Zink	2006	USA (AMRO)	What are: (a) the types of abuse perpetrated by older men against their spouses or dating partners and (b) the victim’s interpretation of these experiences and behaviors?	38; Age range: 54–90	Interviews–some face-to-face, some on telephone; coded using thematic analysis techniques	IPV–physical, emotional, sexual, financial abuse
						Male partner
Zink	2006	USA (AMRO)	How older women cope in long-term abusive intimate relationships.	38; Age range: 55–90	Interviews–some face-to-face, some on telephone; adapted form of grounded theory	IPV–physical, emotional, verbal
						Husband, boyfriend, partner