ORIGINAL ARTICLE The prevalence of lifetime abuse among older adults in seven European countries Bahareh Eslami . Eija Viitasara . Gloria Macassa . Maria Gabriella Melchiorre . Jutta Lindert . Mindaugas Stankunas . Francisco Torres-Gonzalez . Henrique Barros . Elisabeth Ioannidi-Kapolou . Joaquim J. F. Soares Received: 28 September 2015 / Revised: 21 December 2015 / Accepted: 21 March 2016 Ó Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) 2016 Abstract Objectives To investigate the lifetime prevalence rate of abuse among older persons and to scrutinize the associated factors (e.g. demographics). Methods This cross-sectional population-based study had 4467 participants, aged 60–84, from seven European cities. Abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial and injuries) was measured based on The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale, and the UK survey of abuse/neglect of older people. Results Over 34 % of participants reported experiencing lifetime psychological, 11.5 % physical, 18.5 % financial and 5 % sexual abuse and 4.3 % reported injuries. Lifetime psychological abuse was associated with country, younger age, education and alcohol consumption; physical abuse with country, age, not living in partnership; injuries with country, female sex, age, education, not living in partner- ship; financial abuse with country, age, not living in partnership, education, benefiting social/partner income, drinking alcohol; and sexual abuse with country, female sex and financial strain. Conclusions High lifetime prevalence rates confirm that elder abuse is a considerable public health problem war- ranting further longitudinal studies. Country of residence is an independent factor associated with all types of elder abuse which highlights the importance of national inter- ventions alongside international collaborations. Keywords Determinant Á Elder abuse Á Financial Á Injuries Á Psychological Á Sexual This article is part of the special issue ‘‘Violence and Health: Implications of the 2030 Agenda for South-North Collaboration’’. B. Eslami (&) Á E. Viitasara Á G. Macassa Á J. J. F. Soares Section of Public Health Science, Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden e-mail: bahareh.eslami@miun.se B. Eslami Á G. Macassa Department of Occupational and Public Health Sciences, University of Ga ¨vle, Ga ¨vle, Sweden M. G. Melchiorre Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, Italian National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, I.N.R.C.A, Ancona, Italy J. Lindert Department of Public Health, University of Emden, Emden, Germany J. Lindert Brandeis University, Waltham, USA M. Stankunas Department of Health Management, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania M. Stankunas Health Service Management Department, Centre for Health Innovation, School of Medicine, University of Griffith, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia F. Torres-Gonzalez Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), University of Granada, Granada, Spain H. Barros Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Porto Medical School, Porto, Portugal E. Ioannidi-Kapolou Department of Sociology, National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece Int J Public Health DOI 10.1007/s00038-016-0816-x 123