Assessment strategies can vary according to the type of abuse suspected. Descriptions of typical manifestations of the five common types and the methods of assessment that are useful in evaluating possible cases are provided in Table 1. With respect to physical abuse, researchers have been unable to identify injuries that are clearly diagnostic of abuse in older persons, as has been possible for child abuse. Although forensic research has demonstrated some emerging patterns of physical abuse (e.g., older victims are more likely to have bruising on the face, lateral aspect of the right arm, and posterior torso, including back, chest, lumbar, and gluteal regions, than older adults who have bruising unrelated to abuse),14 .these findings are useful primarily to alert the clinician to the possibility of abuse and should not be viewed as diagnostic for either medical or legal purposes without other corroborating clinical findings or historical information.