Some 13 percent of U.S. elderly abused

CHICAGO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- About 13 percent of elderly U.S. adults are mistreated, most commonly by someone who verbally mistreats or financially takes advantage, researchers said.

University of Chicago researchers used data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, a 2005 to 2006 survey of a random sample of 3,005 community-dwelling adults, ages 57 through 85, which collected data on individuals' social lives, sexuality, health and a broad range of biological measures.

"The population of the country is aging, and people now live with chronic diseases longer. So it's important to understand, from a health perspective, how people are being treated as they age," lead author Edward Laumann said in a statement.

The study, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, found that 9 percent of adults reported verbal mistreatment, 3.5 percent reported financial mistreatment and 0.2 percent reported physical mistreatment.

Of the people reporting verbal mistreatment, 26 percent identified their spouse or romantic partner as being responsible, 15 percent said their children mistreated them verbally, while the remainder named a friend, neighbor, co-worker or boss.

Those who reported financial mistreatment said 57 percent reported someone other than a spouse, parent or child, usually another relative, was taking advantage of them.