Objective: To determine and compare the prevalence and risk factors of elder abuse in elderly population in two different districts in Izmir, Turkey.Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 497 subjects selected by cluster sampling.Results: The prevalence of physical and financial abuse among the elderly in the district of low socioeconomic status was 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively, while among the elderly in the district of high socioeconomic status, it was 2% and 0.3%, respectively. However, the prevalence of elder neglect in the two districts was 27.4% and 11.2%, respectively. Prevalence of neglect was associated with infrequent contact with relatives, little or no income, and fewer years of education among the elderly in the low socioeconomic district. In the high socioeconomic district, neglect was associated with fewer years in education, poor health status and having chronic status.Conclusion: The prevalence of abuse among the elderly living in the two different districts was low. However, nearly one-fifth of elderly people were exposed to neglect.

Environmental tobacco smoke is an important public health problem. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of passive smoking on lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children aged 2–12 years. A case-control study was conducted on matched-pair design. One-hundred and fifty children with LRTIs and 150 healthy children were included in the study. Data were collected through questionnaire and urine samples for the determination of cotinine levels, and were analysed by McNemar chi-square, paired t-test and Pearson correlation tests. The prevalence of parental self-reported, indoor smoking was 71.3% in children with LRTI and 72.0% in healthy children. Employing 30 ng mg⁻¹, the cut-off level of urinary cotinine/creatinine as commonly accepted, 87.3% of the children with LRTIs and 84.7% of healthy children were found to be passive smokers (p = 0.61, odds ratio (OR) = 0.93; confidence interval (CI) = 0.34–2.53). If 60 ng mg⁻¹ of urinary cotinine/creatinine was accepted as a cut-off level, it was observed that the rates of passive smoking were 76.7% and 50.7%, respectively (p = 0.000, OR = 4.72; 95% CI = 2.62–8.52). Dose-dependent exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was found to be associated with the incidence of LRTI.