MethodologyIn 2007 the health servi

Methodology
In 2007 the health service in Ireland established a nonmandatory reporting system for elder abuse referrals, with 2008 representing the first full year of data collection. Dedicated staff at local (Senior Case Workers (SCWs)) and regional level (Dedicated Officers) are involved in the recording and collation of statistics. All referrals of alleged/suspected elder abuse are recorded by the SCW employing unique identifiers to enable tracking of clients while maintaining anonymity. This records key characteristics on the client and alleged perpetrator. All forms are forwarded to the Dedicated Officers for validation, coding and inputting into MS Excel. A reassessment is completed, either on case closure or at 6-monthly intervals which records if cases are substantiated, documenting interventions along with the identification of any key health issues for the client and the alleged perpetrator (alcohol/drugs/dementia/intellectual disability etc). All cases were tracked through the system. The only exclusion criterion for this study was referrals for self-neglect: these will be analysed in a subsequent paper. Subgroup analysis is provided on the cases that have been substantiated. Descriptive statistics were employed with multiple response and Chi-square analysis. National Census figures [7] were employed in the calculation of relative reporting rates.