Introduction: Misbehavior towards elderlies is among psychosocial damages, with an increasing prevalence along with the increase in age of families and societies. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to compare perceived misbehavior with urban and rural elderlies living in Ilam Province during year 2014.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, using clustering and simple random sampling, 360 individuals among those more than 65 years old in Ilam Province were selected. Data was collected via a standard questionnaire, with its validity confirmed by different studies.

Results: In this study, 360 individuals including 221 (61.4%) females and 290 (80.6%) urban elderlies were evaluated. Most elderlies (228 (63.3%)) were married and the highest frequency (39.8%) was observed among the age group of 76 to 80 year-olds. Among urban elderlies, the greatest frequency of misbehavior was attributed to financial neglect (107 (36.8%)) and the least common misbehavior was financial misbehavior. However, among rural participants, the most frequent misbehavior was financial neglect (40 (57.1%)) and the least common (1 (1.5%)) misbehavior was bodily misbehavior.

Conclusions: Considering the high rate of misbehaviour reported by elderlies in Ilam Province, interventional programs are needed by policy makers of either health and treatment responsibilities or other social and economical responsibilities in Ilam province for reduction of misbehaviour by families of elderlies.