Emergency Department Presentations and Hospitalisations for Elder Abuse in People Accessing Aged Care Services in Australia: A Retrospective Cross‐Sectional Study

TL;DR

This study shows that elder abuse is rarely recorded in hospital records of older Australians, indicating poor recognition and reporting.

Contribution

The study is the first to use linked data across four Australian states to quantify the under-recognition of elder abuse in healthcare settings.

Findings

Only 0.06% of 965,986 older people had elder abuse coded in emergency or hospital records.

Elder abuse remains significantly under-recognized and under-reported in healthcare documentation.

Abstract

Elder abuse can lead to serious physical injuries and long‐term psychological consequences, but its recognition and documentation in healthcare settings remain limited. This study used linked data from four Australian states to examine elder abuse coded during emergency department presentations and hospitalisations among 965,986 older people assessed for aged care services between 2010 and 2019. Only 580 people (0.06%) had elder abuse coded during an emergency department presentation or hospitalisation, highlighting substantial under‐recognition and under‐reporting in hospital settings.