Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Mistreatment in a Community-Dwelling Population of US Chinese Older Adults

Objective: This study aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment among U. S. Chinese older adults. Method: Data were drawn from the Population-Based Study of ChINese Elderly (PINE) study, a population-based epidemiological survey of 3,159 U. S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area. The study design was guided by a community-based participatory research approach. Results: This study found a prevalence of 15.0% for elder mistreatment among community-dwelling Chinese older adults. In addition, higher levels of education (r = .16, p<.001), fewer children (r = .1, p<.001), lower health status (r = .11, p<.001), poorer quality of life (r = .05, p<.01), and worsening health over the past year (r = .08, p<.001) were positively correlated with any elder mistreatment. Discussion: Elder mistreatment is prevalent among U. S. Chinese older adults. The findings point to a pressing need for researchers, community service workers, health care providers, and policy makers to increase efforts on reducing elder mistreatment in U. S. Chinese communities.