Worldwide study links environment to women’ quality of life

A global study has revealed that how women view their own home conditions, financial resources, and physical environment, including pollution levels, is key to understanding their overall quality of life and health.

The study published today (2/10/24) in the open-access journal PLOS ONE was led by researchers from The University of Manchester and University  Alberta, in collaboration with colleagues world-wide.

The study also looked at women’s quality of life in different age groups and found:

• Younger women under 45, reported the poorest health-related quality of life of any age group, and on every domain, although their quality of life was adequate.
• Women over 45, reported that  quality of life in every domain except physical, had improved and was reported as good or very good.
• By 60, older women generally had the best quality of life level in their life. These high levels were sustained up to 75 years of age and beyond, peaking for environmental quality of life. 

Commonly cited measures of quality of life for use in health (such as EQ-5D) have often focussed their assessments on the physical and psychological dimensions.

But that means the environmental, social, and spiritual dimensions of quality of life, internationally agreed to be important, are overlooked, with consequences for how we understand women’s health and wellbeing.

Data from four World Health Organisation (WHO) surveys was collected in 43 countries world-wide and included responses from 17,608 adults, aged15 to 101 years.

A cross-culturally developed measure known as the WHOQOL-100 assessed respondents’ quality of life and health on six key dimensions: physical, psychological, independence, social, environmental, and spiritual.

The researchers found that environmental quality of life explained a substantial 46% of women’s overall quality of life and health, and home environment  was the biggest contributor.

Other important factors included having enough financial resources to meet their needs, perceptions of opportunities for recreation and leisure, access to health and social care, and their physical environment.

Evidence of better spiritual quality of life in some women was derived from spiritual connections and faith. Studies of gender inequalities have tended to report that physical and psychological quality of life is better for men, which the study confirmed.

Co-author Professor Suzanne Skevington from The University Manchester said: “From our study it is possible to speculate about the  environmental actions by younger women around the issue of climate change and its effects on the environment.

“We speculate these actions may be initiated by their self-awareness that their environmental quality of life is only acceptable rather than good, during the early adult years; hence a desire to improve it.

“Very good environmental quality of life in older women could provide sufficient reason for them to work towards retaining this nourishing feature of their life for their family, and future generations”.

The study data was collected before it was widely appreciated that reducing climate change and biodiversity loss would depend upon changing human behaviour, which, say the authors, could be the topic of future research.

She added: “ These findings underscore the importance of choosing a quality of life measure  in healthcare clinical or research that includes assessments of environmental, social, and spiritual quality of life

“That, will more fully capture knowledge about women’s quality of life and health.

“Many existing surveys have ignored factors more relevant to women, which has meant that our understanding of quality of life has been skewed toward the experiences of men and not women.

“This profile of information could be useful in enhancing the quality of life of women from all age groups.”

DOI of the study is: