Korean J Fam Pract. 2016; 6(6): 577-585  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2016.6.6.577
The Association between Independence of Elders and Their Abuse Experiences
Han Kim1, Byung-Sung Kim1,*, Hyun-Rim Choi1, Chang-Won Won1, Sunyoung Kim2, Yoon-Goo Kim1
1Department of Family Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center; 2Department of Medicine, Graduate School Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea
Byung-Sung Kim
Tel: +82-2-958-8700, Fax: +82-2-958-8699
E-mail: byungskim@naver.com
Received: July 8, 2016; Accepted: September 7, 2016; Published online: December 20, 2016.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Elder abuse is a rising issue and may have secondary impacts on elders and cause dissociations with their families. This study aimed to explore if experiences of any type of elder abuse were associated with elders’ independence levels and if elder independence changed according to the type of elder abuse experienced.
Methods: Data analyzed in this study were a subset of data gathered by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2011: the 2011 Living Profiles of Older People Survey. The dependent variable was elders’ independence level evaluated using the activities of daily living (ADL) and Korean instrumental ADL (K-IADL) measures. The independent variables were types of elder abuse: physical, emotional, and family abuse. To find factors influencing elders’ independence levels, logistic regression analysis was conducted after adjusting covariates.
Results: The findings from this study indicated that (a) family abuse and at least one experience of abuse were significantly associated with lower independence of elders, (b) physical abuse did not significantly explain the variance in elder independence level, and (c) emotional abuse had a significant association with low independence level as evaluated by the ADL but not by the K-IADL.
Conclusion: Elders with experience of abuse were less likely to be independent. In particular, family abuse was strongly associated with lower independence level.
Keywords: Elder Abuse; Independent Living; Physical Abuse; Neglect; Old Age
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