Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of California San Diego and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York used a nationally representative data set to estimate how often providers in the ED make a formal elder abuse diagnosis.
They found elder abuse is a formal diagnosis in 1 in 7,700 visits, even though elder abuse affects roughly 1 in 10 older adults.
“These findings indicate that the vast majority of victims of elder abuse pass through the emergency department without the problem being identified,” said Timothy Platts-Mills, MD, senior author of the study. He said EDs are “falling short” when it comes to identifying and addressing the issue.
Dr. Platts-Mills and the other researchers are creating a new screening tool to improve elder abuse identification in the ED. Current standard practice in most EDs is to ask one question about safety in the home. The new tool will have several questions and include a physical exam for some patients.
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