Spatial analysis of elder abuse in a Brazilian municipality

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to analyze the spatial distribution of elder abuse in Ribeirão Preto-SP, according to victims’ place of residence and event.

Method:

an ecological study that analyzed 1,153 elder abuse police reports (2009 to 2013). Local gross and empirical Bayesian rates and Local Moran’s I were calculated.

Results:

there was a heterogeneous distribution of concentration of sectors with a high incidence rate surrounded by neighbors with also high rates, considering place of residence. In contrast, analysis by place of occurrence showed a greater concentration in the central areas of the municipality. More than 80% of cases of violence occurred at their own homes and with spatial dependence on distribution by occurrence up to a 5,000 m distance from their places of residence.

Conclusion:

data reinforce that violence is a complex phenomenon, affecting several social strata, including in central urban areas and in elderly people families’ own context.

Descriptors:
Aged; Violence; Elder Abuse; Spatial Analysis; Geographic Mapping