Perceptions of personal safety among older Australians.
BACKGROUND
There is public perception, partly attributable to the media, that older people are disproportionately the victims of crime and are greatly concerned for their personal safety.


OBJECTIVE
To identify at a population level older people's perceptions of their personal safety in their home and separately in their neighbourhood, and the predictors of feeling safe in each setting.


METHODS
Logistic regression analysis of responses from randomly selected older Australians (65+ years) living independently in the community (n= 8881) to a cross-sectional telephone general health survey.


RESULTS
The vast majority of respondents, although higher in men, reported feeling safe in their home (96%) and neighbourhood (92%) 'all' or 'most' of the time. Feeling safe did not decline with age. Significant predictors of feeling safe 'all' the time were identified and some gender differences were noted.


CONCLUSIONS
The perception that older people are greatly concerned with their personal safety is not supported by these findings.
Quine
Susan
S
School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. sueq@health.usyd.edu.au
Morrell
Stephen
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*