Abuse underreported in many states.

• Position: The Elderly

Although all states have laws and services in place to detect domestic elder abuse, only about one in five actual cases is reported and sub stantiated. How cases are detected and dispatched differs significantly across the nation because laws and regulations vary greatly.

In particular, a University of Iowa, Ames, study found that states that demand mandatory reporting and tracking of domestic elder abuse have much higher investigation rates than those without these requirements.

Domestic eider abuse is the victimization of adults or dependent/ vulnerable adults age 60 and older--age 65 and older in California, Maryland, and Nebraska; age 55 and older in Alabama--who live in private residences, not care facilities. Dependent adults are unable to care for themselves as a result of a physical or mental condition and depend on others to help them with tasks of daily living.

"Our findings suggest that improvements and standardization are needed nationwide in how information on elder abuse is collected and how state laws are created," says Gerald Jogerst, associate professor and interim head of family medicine in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and lead investigator in the study.

A "report" is an allegation or suspicion of maltreatment received by a state's adult protective service; an "investigation" involves actually going to a potential victim's home to see whether abuse is taking place; and "substantiation" is the finding of offenses as defined by that state's law.

The researchers found that...