The gender gap in mobility: A global cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral studies have demonstrated that women have greater mobility disability than men. The goals of this research were: 1) to assess the gender gap in mobility difficulty in 70 countries; 2) to determine whether the gender gap is explained by sociodemographic and health factors; 3) to determine whether the gender gap differs across 6 regions of the world with different degrees of gender equality according to United Nations data.MethodsPopulation-based data were used from the World Health Survey (WHS) conducted in 70 countries throughout the world. 276,647 adults aged 18 years and over were recruited from 6 world regions. Mobility was measured by asking the level of difficulty people had moving around in the last 30 days and then creating a dichotomous measure (no difficulty, difficulty). The human development index and the gender-related development index for each country were obtained from the United Nations Development Program website. Poisson regression with Taylor series linearized variance estimation was used.ResultsWomen were more likely than men to report mobility difficulty (38% versus 27%, P < 0.0001). The age-adjusted prevalence rate ratio for female gender was 1.35 (95% CI 1.31–1.38). The addition of education, marital status, and urban versus rural setting reduced the prevalence rate ratio to 1.30 (95% CI 1.26–1.33). The addition of the presence of back pain, arthritis, angina, depressive symptoms, and cognitive difficulties further reduced the prevalence rate ratio to 1.12 (95% CI 1.09–1.15). There was statistical interaction on the multiplicative scale between female gender and region (P < 0.01). The Eastern Mediterranean region, which had the greatest loss of human development due to gender inequality, showed the largest gender gap in mobility difficulty, while the Western Pacific region, with the smallest loss of human development due to gender inequality, had the smallest gender gap in mobility difficulty.ConclusionsThese are the first world-wide data to examine the gender gap in mobility. Differences in chronic diseases are the main reasons for this gender gap. The gender gap seems to be greater in regions with the largest loss of human development due to gender inequality.

Gender difference in the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of mobility disability among older adults in Nigeria

“…The presence of a male partner for these women could be source of economic resources, which in turn lead to better access to health care and nutritious food. Gender difference in mobility disability has been shown to be higher in regions where there are marked difference in opportunities between men and women (Mechakra-Tahiri et al 2012). In the World Economic Forum (2013) Gender Gap Index, Nigeria was ranked among the lowest 30 countries in the world in terms of gender inequality.…”

“…Even in households of similar economic status, mobility disability was higher in women than in men. This finding could be attributed, in part, to the fact that women are more likely to report disability than men (Mechakra-Tahiri et al 2012). Moreover, it may be suggestive of some forms of inequality between men and women.…”

“…A notable limitation of this study is the absence of data on chronic health conditions, such as arthritis, pain, obesity, and other cardiovascular diseases. These variables may be particularly important to investigate, as previous studies have attributed excess mobility disability among women to selected health conditions (Mechakra-Tahiri et al 2012;Whitson et al 2010). The subjective measures of mobility disability, determined by a participant's self-report, could be influenced by differences in the way in which men and women perceive their health and functioning.…”

“…A cross-national study using data from 70 countries across Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific showed that regions with more bias against women are more likely to report higher gender inequality in mobility disability (Mechakra-Tahiri et al 2012). Another global study on disability from 57 countries including low-and middle-income countries showed that prevalence of disability among women aged 50 and above was substantially higher (40.1 %) compared with men aged 50 and above (23.8 %).…”

The Global Burden of Visual Difficulty in Low, Middle, and High Income Countries

“…In addition, the ethics committee of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, where the analyses were conducted, approved the project. Numerous papers have now been published using this global dataset [7], [8], [9], [10], [11].…”