@article{ref1,
title="The relationship between social support and dimensions of elder maltreatment: a systematic review and Meta-analysis",
journal="BMC geriatrics",
year="2023",
author="Marzbani, Behnaz and Ayubi, Erfan and Barati, Majid and Sahrai, Parvaneh",
volume="23",
number="1",
pages="e869-e869",
abstract="INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Many studies have investigated the relationship between social support and the prevention of elder abuse; however, their results are somehow inconsistent in terms of the association. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the published studies on the relationship between social support and the prevention of elder maltreatment. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search was conducted until January 2023, using such databases as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The present research included cross-sectional, longitudinal, and case-control studies. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted by two researchers independently. The Newcastle-Ottawa checklist was utilized to evaluate the quality of studies. The random effects model was employed to perform a meta-analysis. <br><br>RESULTS: In total, 32 studies were included in this systematic review, out of which 26 articles were eligible for meta-analysis. The results showed that 68.75% of the studies were of high quality, and there is a significant relationship between social support and elder maltreatment. Accordingly, the lack of social support increased overall maltreatment (odds ratio: 1.24, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-1.33; I(2) = 92.3%, p = 0.000)). Moreover, lack of social support had an increasing effect on the level of psychological abuse (1.55, 1.18-2.04; 88.7%, p = 0.000), physical abuse (1.31, 0.42-4.11; 76.3%, p = 0.005), and neglect (2.02, 0.86-4.72; 87.9%, p = 0.000), which shows heterogeneities among the results of the included studies. On the contrary, the lack of social support showed a decreasing effect on financial abuse (0.92, 0.70-1.21; 62.1%, p = 0.022). <br><br>CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides evidence that social support in the form of structural or functional support may plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the elderly.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-2318",
doi="10.1186/s12877-023-04541-6",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04541-6"
}