Analysis of the sociodemographic profile of elderly victims of violence in the city of Porto Alegre/RS/Brazil

• Author(s): Peruhype,Rarianne Carvalho ; Hauser,Lisiane
• Date: 2011
• Origin: Oasisbr
• Subject(s): Elderly, violence, elder abuse.
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

INTRODUCTION: The violence against the elderly is an ongoing public health problem in the society that needs to be investigated.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyse the sociodemographic profile of the elderly victims of violence reported in 2009 at the Elderly Police Station, in Porto Alegre city, RS.
METHODS: It was used the simple frequency, percentage and standardized rate per age.
RESULTS: In the overall 904 reports were checked, from which 836 were considered valid. It was found a higher incidence of violence victims in white elderly (85.1% based on 778 victims), who were 70 to 79 years old (≅ 486 cases per 100.000 people ), married (46%), with primary school (54.4%) and female (69.3%). Psychological violence was the most practiced, followed by financial and physical assault. There was predominance of "unfamiliar" as authors of aggressions (57.4%).
CONCLUSION: The found data confirm the importance of restructuring policies and strategies for preventing violence and strengthening the network support for older people.