title: Elder abuse.
abstract: Five types of elder abuse (physical, psychological, sexual, neglect and financial) are recognized. They are not new, occur worldwide and are associated with persistent morbidity and mortality. The forensic clinician has responsibilities to: (i) the patient, with competent history taking and examination, (ii) interpret findings and recognize patterns of harm and (iii) promulgate this issue in wider professional and public forums. Research into elder abuse is relatively recent; standardized terminology remains unsettled, and small-scale, local studies are hard to generalize. Cross-sectional, population-based studies of elder abuse should be possible, and standardized endpoints will require forensic science contributions.
authors: Cameron Forensic Medical Sciences, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ,  UK.
authors: Anthony W
authors: AW
authors: Fox
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003644:Death Certificates; D004282:Documentation; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting