Understanding Rural Women’s Domestic Work Experiences (DWE) in Ibadan, Nigeria: Development of a Measurement Tool Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Gender norms prescribe domestic labor as primarily a female’s responsibility in developing countries. Many domestic tasks depend on access to water, so the physical, emotional, and time demands of domestic labor may be exacerbated for women living in water-insecure environments. We developed a set of domestic work experience (DWE) measures tailored to work in rural areas in developing countries, assessed rural Nigerian women’s DWE, and examined relationships among the measures. Interviewer-administered survey data were collected between August and September from 256 women in four rural Nigerian communities. Latent factors of DWE were identified by analyzing survey items using confirmatory factor analysis. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine relationships among latent factor scores, and multivariate linear regression models were used to determine if factor scores significantly differed across socio-demographic characteristics. The DWE measures consisted of latent factors of the physical domain (frequency of common domestic tasks, water sourcing and carriage, experience of water scarcity), the psychosocial domain (stress appraisal and demand–control), and the social domain (social support). Significant correlations were observed among the latent factors within and across domains. Results revealed the importance of measuring rural Nigerian women’s DWE using multiple and contextual approaches rather than relying solely on one exposure measure. Multiple inter-related factors contributed to women’s DWE. Water insecurity exacerbated the physical and emotional demands of domestic labor DWE varied across age categories and pregnancy status among rural Nigerian women.

Assessing the relationship between domestic work experience and musculoskeletal health among rural Nigerian women

“…Interviewers administered (face-to-face) the survey to the participants. Full details of the survey development and administration process, DWE final measures, and the finalized survey instrument are described in a previous paper [ 36 ].…”

“…Independent Variables: Primary independent variables included factor scores from six DWE measures (latent factors derived from confirmatory factor analysis of responses to survey questions [ 36 ]) and self-reported total hours spent on domestic work per week [recoded into lowest (all hours equal to or less than the 1 st quartile -25th percentile value); middle quartile (all hours that are greater than the 25 percentile value but less than the 75 th percentile value); and highest quartile (all hours equal to or greater than 75% percentile value) hours of domestic work). The six DWE measures were divided into three domains: physical (frequency of domestic work, water sourcing and carriage, and experience of water scarcity), psychosocial (stress appraisal and demand-control), and social (social support).…”

“…Millions of women in Asia and Africa spend approximately half of their day performing strenuous domestic tasks [ 34 , 35 ]. From our previous work on characterizing the domestic work experience (DWE) of rural Nigerian women, women spend approximately 30 hours per week on domestic tasks such as cooking, childcare, water fetching, and manual dish/clothes washing [ 36 ]. Physically demanding domestic work is associated with a higher risk of back pain in studies from LMICs compared to studies from higher-income countries [ 32 ].…”

“…The experience of water scarcity and labor associated with water collection also contributes to a woman’s DWE [ 36 ]. In Nigeria, more than two-thirds of women rely on dug-wells (68%) and transport water via head loading [ 36 ].…”

“…The experience of water scarcity and labor associated with water collection also contributes to a woman’s DWE [ 36 ]. In Nigeria, more than two-thirds of women rely on dug-wells (68%) and transport water via head loading [ 36 ]. Head porterage could increase the pressure on the neck (compression forces), particularly if the load is heavy, and may increase the risk of neck or back pain [ 38 , 39 ].…”