title: U.S. population estimates and correlates of sexual abuse of community-dwelling older adults.
abstract: We describe the annual prevalence of sexual abuse among community-dwelling older adults in the United States. We also describe factors associated with experiencing sexual abuse. We used data from 24,343 older adults from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System pooled across 18 states. We estimated prevalence of sexual abuse, bivariate distributions, and odds ratio associations across demographic, health, and contextual factors. Our results show that 0.9% of older adults reported experiencing sexual abuse in the previous year. This represents approximately 90,289 community-dwelling older adults. We also report on factors associated with experiencing recent sexual abuse. There was a significant gender by binge drinking interaction, with a stronger association among women. There is a need for health promotion efforts targeted specifically toward older adults, encouraging them to seek services, if possible, after exposure to sexual abuse.
authors.affiliation: a Behavioral and Community Health , University of North Texas Health Science Center , Fort Worth , Texas , USA.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Cannell
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manini
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spence-Almaguer
authors.forename: Mildred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maldonado-Molina
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Andresen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: BRFSS; abuse; population; sexual; surveillance