Is multimorbidity associated with risk of elder abuse? Findings from the AHSETS study.

Elder abuse and multimorbidity are emerging as issues of significant concern among rural elderly in Odisha, India. Multimorbidity and functional dependence are associated with significantly higher odds of elder abuse among rural older adults. Further, we report the role of functional dependence as a partial mediator between multimorbidity and elder abuse. Therefore, potential interventions on reducing the economic, physical and care dependence among multimorbid patients may reduce the risk of elder abuse.