The relationship between daily life activities and NEGLECT and ABUSE in the ELDERLY

The research was conducted in a descriptive and cross-sectional type to determine the relationship between the daily life activities of the elderly and neglect and abuse. The research was conducted with 234 elderly people registered in Family Health Centers No. 1 and 14 affiliated to Adıyaman Provincial Health Directorate. Standardized Mini-Mental Test, Personal Information Form, Barthel Daily Life Activities Index (Barthel ADL), Elderly Neglect Diagnosis, Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S "EAST") were used to collect the data. The analysis of the study was performed with frequency, percentage, mean, Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney U and correlation tests in the IBM SPSS 21 program. Among the elderly 43.8% were moderately dependent, 63.4% were exposed to a type of abuse, and 28.9% were found to have possible neglect while performing the daily life activities. The mean total score of the H-S "EAST" Scale was found to be higher in the elderly who were highly dependent while performing daily life activities (r: 4.52 ± 2.76). The relationship between Barthel ADL score and H-S "EAST" score of the elderly was significant and negative (r= -0.383, p<0.001). As a result of multiple regression analysis, it was determined that elderly neglect and daily life activities significantly affected elderly abuse. Accordingly, it was determined that abuse increased as the addiction increased in the elderly in terms of neglect and daily life activities (p=0.000). Based on the findings, it can be seen that most of the elderly are exposed to at least one type of abuse, and when the type of exposure is examined, it can be seen that the type of psychological abuse is higher than other types of abuse. It was determined that as the dependency levels of the elderly in daily life activities increased, the rate of exposure to neglect and abuse increased. Keywords: Elderly, Daily Living Activities, Neglect and Abuse, Public Health Nursing.