The study is limited in that accuracy of risk assessment was measured by comparing novices’ decisions with those of nominal experts, which may indicate the potential for systematic bias. It is important to note that actual cases, with known outcomes, would provide more valid data with which to compare the accuracy of decisions. Another issue related to the degree of experience the experts had obtained. Although the sub group were identified in the original study as superior to the larger sample originally collected [37], financial abuse is not an everyday issue that professionals come across; expertise maybe more difficult to develop compared with some other types of more practised decision making with higher levels of feedback [44]. However the fact that the experts remained consistent in their decision threshold and that they exhibited the (desirable) relatively low threshold for detection of elder abuse justifies some confidence in the use of threshold as a reference standard.