Objectives: The physical, psychological and social circumstances surrounding old age make the elderly particularly susceptible to such aspects of social pathology as violence, aggression, abandonment and neglect – which is known as abuse, ill treatment or mistreatment. Material and methods: This study indicates that one of the instruments, the ADL scale, for the assessment of daily living, which is commonly used in the Polish primary health care service, can be applied in determining the risk factors of violence against older people. The research participants comprised 613 patients. Results: The factors increasing the risk of violence against people over 65 years of age were old age, a low level of education and the need to be looked after by others due to age and age-related diseases. The lower the senior patient’s abilities in respect to the basic daily activities (measured by the ADL scale), the higher the risk of psychological, physical and sexual violence. The factors that may contribute to discovering and preventing the pathology are; directing the attention of the medical community to the problem of violence against the elderly, and regular use of a comprehensive geriatric examination with the instruments mentioned. Conclusions: On the basis of the data analysis, it can be stated that the risk factors include age and a low level of education, but the primary risk factor is a complete dependency of the senior patient on other people.