TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Nearly 500 elderly people were abused at Japan's nursing homes in the space of nine months last year -- 10 times the number of cases reported by the government for a whole year, Japanese media reported on Tuesday.

A survey conducted by experts on elderly care earlier this year revealed 498 cases of nursing facilities employees abusing the elderly between April and December last year, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.

Of the 498 cases, 190 involved psychological abuse, such as cursing and ignoring the elderly. More than 130 cases involved physical abuse and 110 involved tying elderly people to a bed or otherwise restraining them, the paper reported.

Survey respondents listed personality clashes between nursing home employees and the elderly and a lack of knowledge among staff for the abuse.

The survey drew responses from some 1,800 nursing home employees around the country, the Yomiuri said, adding this suggested that many more abuse cases were probably going unreported.

A government report in September recorded 53 cases of abuse against elderly people in nursing homes in the year to March -- around one-tenth of the figure that the new survey revealed for part of that period.

The Sendai Dementia Care Research and Training Centre, which issued the survey last month, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rapidly ageing Japan, where a tenth of the population is aged 75 or older, is confronting cases of abuse against the elderly.

Government data showed that nearly 13,000 elderly people were abused by their family members in the year to March. (Reporting by Yoko Kubota)

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