More men over the age of 60 appear to be the victims of elder abuse. In a study released Friday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that among this particular population, the numbers are climbing. 

The CDC looked at nonfatal assaults and homicides among all adults 60 and older, between 2002 and 2016. What they found was striking. Among men, nonfatal assaults increased by more than 75.4 percent; while the homicide rate jumped 7 percent from 2010 to 2016.

"A large proportion of the cases we observed are attributed what CDC would consider elder abuse," said Joseph Logan with the CDC.

Logan says he doesn’t know why these numbers are climbing and that more work needs to be done.  

"Overall we know it’s half the cases, but we need to explore the trends and the prevalence of it. So we don’t know if elder abuse is the root cause that’s increasing it or something else," he said.

The report found that homicide rates among other older adult groups either declined or remained unchanged.