National Center on Elder Abuse
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National Center on Elder Abuse
Home / Research / Research, Statistics and Data / Detection and Screening Instruments
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Detection and Screening Instruments
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Several screening tools have been developed to aid providers in the detection of abuse. These instruments are typically comprised of questions intended to assess for potential or presenting mistreatment. In a preliminary screening, positive responses can be followed up with further screenings, examinations, or referrals to facilitate appropriate intervention. These detection aids vary by profession and often require training prior to implementation.
While there are a number of screening instruments available to assist practitioners, currently there is no gold standard.191 Tools vary in their format, length, and focus. Although some have shown promise, they may not be sufficiently broad to offer comprehensive detection of multiple forms of abuse. Additional research is needed to assess mistreatment and validate tools in different contexts, over different cultures and risk groups, and across professional disciplines.192
General discussions and systematic reviews of elder abuse screening instruments are available.193 194 195 For more details information about screening tools, please see the Adult Maltreatment Screening and Assessment Tools Inventory (ZIP | 133 MB)
The following are among the tools identified for use in healthcare settings:
- Brief Abuse Screen for the Elderly (BASE)196
- Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE)197
- Detection of Elder abuse Through Emergency Care Technicians (DETECT)198
- ED Senior Abuse Identification (ED Senior AID) tool199
- Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI) – also for LE200
- Elder Assessment Instrument (EAI)201
- Elder Mistreatment Screening and Response Tool (EM-SART)202
- Emergency Department Elder Mistreatment Assessment Tool for Social Workers (ED-EMATS)203
- Expanded Indicators of Abuse (E-IOA)204
- Geriatrics Mistreatment Scale (GMS)205
- Hwalek–Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (H-S/EAST)206
- Indicators of Abuse (IOA)207
- Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS-SF) 208
- Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure (OAFEM)209
- Responding to Elder Abuse in GERiAtric care-Self-administered (REAGERA-S).210
- Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS)211
The following tools have been identified for use by Adult Protective Services and other caseworkers in the field of aging:
- California Undue Influence Screening Tool (CUIST)212
- Elder Abuse Risk Assessment and Evaluation tool (EARAE)213
- Elder Abuse Decision Support System (EADSS) 214
- Weinberg Center Risk and Abuse Prevention Screen (WC-RAPS)215
191 McCarthy, C. (2017). Elder abuse screening tools: a systematic review. The Journal of Adult Protection, 19(6), 368–379.
192 Gallione, C., Dal Molin, A., Cristina, F. V., Ferns, H., Mattioli, M., & Suardi, B. (2017). Screening tools for identification of elder abuse: a systematic review. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(15-16), 2154-2176.
193 Schofield, M. J. (2017). Screening for elder abuse: tools and effectiveness. In Elder abuse (pp. 161-199). Springer, Cham.
194 McCarthy, L., Campbell, S., & Penhale, B. (2017). Elder abuse screening tools: a systematic review. The Journal of Adult Protection.
195 Gallione, C., Dal Molin, A., Cristina, F. V., Ferns, H., Mattioli, M., & Suardi, B. (2017). Screening tools for identification of elder abuse: a systematic review. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(15-16), 2154-2176.
196 Reis, M., & Nahmiash, D. (1995). Brief Abuse Screen for the Elderly (BASE).
197 Reis, M., & Nahmiash, D. (1995). Validation of the caregiver abuse screen (CASE). Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 14(S2), 45-60.
198 Cannell, B., Weitlauf, J., Livingston, M. D., Burnett, J., Parayil, M., & Gonzalez, J. R. (2020). Validation of the detection of elder abuse through emergency care technicians (DETECT) screening tool: a study protocol. BMJ open, 10(9), e037170.
199 Platts-Mills, H. (2020). Multicenter Validation of an Emergency Department–Based Screening Tool to Identify Elder Abuse. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 76(3), 280–290.
200 Kurkurina, E., Lange, B. C., Lama, S. D., Burk-Leaver, E., Yaffe, M. J., Monin, J. K., & Humphries, D. (2018). Detection of elder abuse: Exploring the potential use of the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index© by law enforcement in the field. Journal of elder abuse & neglect, 30(2), 103-126.
201 Fulmer, T. (2003). Elder abuse and neglect assessment. Journal of gerontological nursing, 29(6), 4-5.
202 Platts-Mills, T., Sivers-Teixeira, T., Encarnacion, A., Tanksley, B., & Olsen, B. (2020). EM-SART: A scalable elder mistreatment screening and response tool for emergency departments. Generations, 44(1), 51-58.
203 Elman, A., Rosselli, S., Burnes, D., Clark, S., Stern, M. E., LoFaso, V. M., ... & Rosen, T. (2020). Developing the Emergency Department Elder Mistreatment Assessment Tool for Social Workers Using a Modified Delphi Technique. Health & Social Work, 45(2), 110-121.
204 Cohen, M., Halevi-Levin, S., Gagin, R., & Friedman, G. (2006). Development of a screening tool for identifying elderly people at risk of abuse by their caregivers. Journal of Aging and Health, 18(5), 660-685.
205 Giraldo-Rodríguez, L., & Rosas-Carrasco, O. (2013). Development and psychometric properties of the Geriatric Mistreatment Scale. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 13(2), 466-474.
206 Neale, A. V., Hwalek, M. A., Scott, R. O., Sengstock, M. C., & Stahl, C. (1991). Validation of the Hwalek-Sengstock elder abuse screening test. Journal of applied gerontology, 10(4), 406-418.
207 Reis, M., & Nahmiash, D. (1998). Validation of the indicators of abuse (IOA) screen. The Gerontologist, 38(4), 471-480.
208 Lichtenberg, P. A., Gross, E., & Campbell, R. (2020). A short form of the lichtenberg financial decision rating scale. Clinical gerontologist, 43(3), 256-265.
209 Phelan, A., Fealy, G., & Downes, C. (2017). Piloting the older adult financial exploitation measure in adult safeguarding services. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 70, 148-154.
210 Simmons, J., Wiklund, N., Ludvigsson, M., Nägga, K., & Swahnberg, K. (2020). Validation of REAGERA-S: a new self-administered instrument to identify elder abuse and lifetime experiences of abuse in hospitalized older adults. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 32(2), 173-195.
211 Schofield, M. J., & Mishra, G. D. (1996). Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS).
212 Quinn, M. J., Nerenberg, L., Navarro, A. E., & Wilber, K. H. (2017). Developing an undue influence screening tool for Adult Protective Services. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 29(2-3), 157-185.
213 Dauenhauer, J., Heffernan, K., Caccamise, P. L., Granata, A., Calamia, L., Siebert-Konopko, T., & Mason, A. (2019). Preliminary outcomes from a community-based elder abuse risk and evaluation tool. Journal of applied gerontology, 38(10), 1445-1471.
214 Conrad, K. J., Iris, M., & Liu, P. J. (2017). Elder Abuse Decision Support System: Field test outcomes, abuse measure validation, and lessons learned. Journal of elder abuse & neglect, 29(2-3), 134-156.
215 Teresi, J. A., Ocepek-Welikson, K., Ramirez, M., Solomon, J., & Reingold, D. (2019). Methodological approaches to the analyses of elder abuse screening measures: Application of latent variable measurement modeling to the WC-RAPS. Journal of elder abuse & neglect, 31(1), 1-24.
Last Modified: 02/28/2024