title: Domestic elder abuse and the law.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors evaluated the impact of state adult protective service legislation on rates of investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected on all domestic elder abuse reports, investigations, and substantiations for each US state and the District of Columbia for 1999. State statutes and regulations pertaining to adult protective services were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 190 005 domestic elder abuse reports from 17 states, a rate of 8.6 per 1000 elders; 242 430 domestic elder abuse investigations from 47 states, a rate of 5.9; and 102 879 substantiations from 35 states, a rate of 2.7. Significantly higher investigation rates were found for states requiring mandatory reporting and tracking of numbers of reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Domestic elder abuse documentation among states shows substantial differences related to specific aspects of state laws.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. gerald-jogerst@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Gerald J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Jogerst
authors.forename: Jeanette M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Margaret F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Brinig
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Gretchen A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Schmuch
authors.forename: Jerry G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ingram
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019090:Case Management / Q000191:economics; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000145:classification / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003625:Data Collection; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D008875:Middle Aged; D011634:Public Health; D040442:Public Health Informatics; D012947:Social Work / Q000191:economics; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology