Introduction
Following the increase in the elderly population in the 20th century [1], elder abuse is considered a serious issue in human rights and public health and requires immediate and appropriate action [2]. Examining the risk factors of the geriatric syndrome as a geriatric syndrome is associated with many complications [3]. It seems that one of the risk factors that may expose older adults to elder abuse is their personality traits [4, 5, 6]. Considering the lack of research on the relationship between the personality traits of older adults and elder abuse, the present study was conducted among the elderly population referring to the health centers of Marand City, Iran)
Methods
In this cross-sectional study with a code of ethics (IR.USWR.REC.1400.034), 304 samples among the older adults who were referred to health centers participated. The data collection tool included the demographic characteristics checklist and the Hwalek-sengstock elder abuse screen test (HS-EAST) and the inventory among older Iranians 10-item personality inventory (TIPT). Ten-item personality inventory (TIPT) was used to collect information related to the variable of personality traits [7] and according to the results of Gosling et al.’s studies, the norm of each of the big-five personality traits was adjusted for the elderly population [8]. Hwalek-sengstock elder abuse screen test has 15 items (with yes/no answers) and the range of points obtained from completing the questionnaire is between 0 and 15. In the present study, according to the scoring of the Iranian version, a score of 4 and above is considered in elder abuse older adults [9]. The data was entered into SPSS software version 23. In bivariate analysis, chi-square and t test statistical tests were used, as well as to explain the relationship between big-five personality traits and elder abuse, multiple logistic regressions were used.
Results 
In the current study, the average age of the participants was 70.55±7.7 with almost equal gender distribution (51% women). Most of the older adults (37.8%) were illiterate. A high percentage of older adults (71.1%) were married. Also, 82.9% of older adults had their housing, 39.8% of them lived only with their spouses, and 69.1% of them had at least one type of chronic disease. A total of 34.2% of older adults who participated in the study had experienced elder abuse. Chi-square and t test were used to examine the relationship between independent variables and elder abuse. In this way, the age variable had a significant relationship with elder abuse and older people had reported more experience of elder abuse (P<0.01). Also, a significant relationship was observed between the variables of education level (P<0.05), housing status (P<0.005), and suffering from at least one chronic disease (P<0.001) with elder abuse.
The logistic regression results showed that the independent variables significantly predict the elder abuse variable (X2=76.64, df=12, P<0.001) (Table 1).


Studies showed that a high score in the personality trait of extroversion is a protective factor concerning elder abuse so that older adults with a high score of extraversion experienced less elder abuse with a probability of 56% (P<0.05, Wald=4.98, OR=0.44). A high personality trait is considered a protective factor to prevent elder abuse, and the possibility of elder abuse is 67% lower in older adults with high agreeableness (P<0.001, Wald=4.98, OR=0.33).
The logistic regression model showed that high emotional stability (low neuroticism) is a protective factor to prevent elder abuse, and in older adults with high emotional stability, the probability of experiencing elder abuse was 60% lower (P<0.05, Wald=7.08, OR=0.40). Although no significant relationship was observed between the personality trait of openness to experience and elder abuse (P>0.05, Wald=2.97, OR=1.82). But the high score of the elderly in the characteristic of conscientiousness reduces the possibility of elder abuse by 63% (P<0.001, Wald=10.17, OR=0.37). (Table 1)
Discussion
Considering the importance of the issue of elder abuse and the necessity to identify its risk factors, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the big-five personality traits of older adults and elder abuse. The results of the multivariate logistic regression model showed that four personality traits of low extroversion, low agreeableness, high neuroticism (low emotional stability), and low conscientiousness after controlling the variables of gender, age, marital status, housing status, education level, employment and suffering from chronic disease significantly predicts elder abuse. Therefore, the four mentioned personality traits are considered risk factors for the occurrence of elder abuse. Therefore, it seems necessary that policymakers and health experts formulate educational and screening programs considering the mentioned risk factors, especially the high-risk personality traits of the elderly. As a result, older adults at risk of elder abuse are identified faster and timely interventions are used to improve their health status and increase their quality of life so that these interventions have the best results.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
The current study is approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (Code: IR.USWR.REC.1400.034). Ethical principles are fully observed in this article.

Funding
This article is extracted from the Master’s degree thesis at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Authors' contributions
All authors participated in the design, execution, and writing of all parts of the research.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

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