Profile of violence against the elderly in the city of Recife-PE, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To describe the profile of violence against the elderly and factors associated with such violence in Recife-PE, Brazil. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional descriptive study in years 2009-2012 conducted in the city of Recife-PE. Data were obtained from the System VIVA, which is part of the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sinan-Net); variables were show according to the Notification / Investigation Individual Formulary of Domestic, Sexual and/or Other Types of Violences. RESULTS: 242 occurrences were studied, most of the victims were female (59.00%), and the aggressor was predominantly the son. Physical violence was the most frequently observed form of aggression (44.96%), which occurred mainly in the home (47.52%). CONCLUSION: There was an increase in the reporting of cases of violence against the elderly, the most common epidemiological profile of this violence in the city of Recife is similar to that presented in the literature, where the victims are female, brown and suffered physical violence in their residence perpetrated by male child. It is hoped that this study help build a safety net that will impact positively on the reduction of cases of violence against the elderly.