Prevalence and Factors Associated With Elderly Abuse and Health Problems Among Elderly People of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Sep 29, 2026

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Elder abuse is addressed as a serious global concern affecting older adults through harm or distress within relationships where trust is expected. A community-based cross-sectional study used face-to-face interviews with 385 elderly participants aged 60+ in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal to estimate prevalence, identify contributing factors, and assess associated health problems. Psychological or emotional abuse was most common, and hypertension was the leading reported health problem. Gender differences were observed for emotional and physical abuse, guiding prevention and intervention planning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Wiley Journal of Aging Research Volume 2026, Article ID 9932315, 12 pages [https://doi.org/10.1155/jare/9932315](https://doi.org/10.1155/jare/9932315) Research Article Prevalence and Factors Associated With Elderly Abuse and Health Problems Among Elderly People of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal Lochana Shrestha , 1 Naresh Manandhar, 1 Leela Paudel , 1 Ganesh Bhandari ,2 and Ayushma Poudel 1 1 Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences (NAIHS), Sanobharang, Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal 2 Health Ofce, Ministry of Social and Development, Kanchanpur, Sudurpashchim, Nepal Correspondence should be addressed to Lochana Shrestha; [lochanashrestha@gmail.com](lochanashrestha@gmail.com) Received 11 February 2025; Revised 9 December 2025; Accepted 13 December 2025 Academic Editor: Shashank Kaushik Copyright © 2026 Lochana Shrestha et al. Journal of Aging Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Tis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Te global population of older adults is expanding in developing nations. According to the WHO, elder abuse is defned as “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.” Such abuse is a global concern. Tis study aimed to fnd the prevalence, contributing factors, and impacts to inform efective prevention and intervention strategies. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted via face-to-face interviews with elderly individuals aged 60 years and above. Te study was conducted among participants from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Te sample size was 385 with a prevalence of 50.3% . A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the sample. Te frst household was chosen randomly, and subsequent households were selected using the calculated sampling interval. Results: Psychological/emotional abuse was the most common (18.7%), followed by fnancial abuse, physical abuse, and neglect with sexual abuse reported rarely. Te most frequently reported health problem was hypertension (21.4%) followed by osteoarthritis/osteoporosis and diabetes. Gender shows a signifcant association with emotional abuse (p 􀂈 0.02), where females (24.4%) experience higher rates compared to males (14.8%) . Physical abuse is more common among females (16.7%) than males (10.0%), though the diference is marginally insignifcant (p 􀂈 0.06) . Conclusions: Elderly abuse has been increasingly recognized as a serious global issue, warranting urgent attention from healthcare systems and national authorities. Keywords: elder abuse; health problem; prevalence 1. Introduction Te global population of older adults is expanding more rapidly than any other age group, especially in developing nations where the pace of population aging is signifcantly faster than it was in developed countries historically [1] . Te World Health Organization (WHO) defnes health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infrmity.” Aging brings physiological changes, such as deterioration in vision, hearing, memory, and motor coordination, due to the degeneration of bodily systems and the weakening of the immune system. Tis process afects vital organs, which gradually lose their function as people age. According to the WHO, elder abuse is defned as “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person” [2] . Such abuse, which may be committed by family members, friends, caregivers, or neighbors, is a global concern. It can occur through acts of commission or omission and includes physical,

FAQs

What was the purpose of the study?

To determine the prevalence of elder abuse, identify associated contributing factors, and describe related health impacts among older adults in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

How was the study conducted and what was the sample size?

A community-based cross-sectional design used face-to-face interviews with 385 participants aged 60 years and above, selected through multistage sampling.

Which type of elder abuse and which health problem were most common?

Psychological/emotional abuse was most common, and hypertension was the most frequently reported health problem.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Terk