Elder Abuse Suspicion Index

The Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI) is a brief, six-item tool designed to help physicians and other clinicians raise — and act on — a suspicion of elder mistreatment among cognitively intact, community-dwelling older adults. Developed by Mark Yaffe and colleagues at McGill University and validated in a 2008 study, it consists of five questions asked of the patient (covering neglect and physical, psychological, financial, and sexual abuse) plus a sixth item recording the clinician's own observations. It takes under two minutes to administer. The EASI does not diagnose abuse; rather, a 'yes' on any of questions 2 through 6 signals that mistreatment may be present and that referral to social services, adult protective services, or further evaluation is warranted. It is one of the most widely used elder-abuse case-finding instruments in primary care.