Intimate partner violence among older women and men in Spain: prevalence and types

Abstract

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This investigation analyzes the prevalence and type of intimate partner violence (IPV) suffered by men and women over 65 years of age. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 24 Senior Citizen Centers in the Community of Madrid, Spain. An ad hoc questionnaire was developed and 1,030 subjects (826 women and 204 men) aged 65–93 years participated. A factor analysis was performed with the different types of violence and a binary logistic regression to analyze the probability of risk of the type of violence suffered by older people with IPV. Women experienced more cases of IPV than men, although, in both groups, physical violence was lower, and the Psychological or social type was more prevalent. According to the study, women were 2.2 times more likely to experience physical violence, 3.1 times more likely to experience economic violence, and 1.8 times more likely to experience verbal violence concerning men. IPV experienced by older people differs from that of younger people. It is necessary to give visibility to IPV in seniors in terms of preventive and intervention actions that can be implemented.