Gender inequality

This paper reports on Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) public participation in Malawi with a focus on the role of women from matrilineal and patrilineal marriage systems. Six rural ESIA projects are explored of which three are in areas of patrilineal and three are in areas of matrilineal systems. Participation space was found to be consistently dominated by men, with no obvious differences between both systems. The key reasons are likely to be lower educational and social status of women in rural areas throughout the country...

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the role of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) - which funds services for vulnerable and historically disadvantaged populations with HIV - in reducing health inequities among people with HIV over a 10-year horizon. DESIGN: We use an agent-based microsimulation model to incorporate the complexity of the program and long-time horizon. METHODS: We use a composite measure (the Theil index) to evaluate the health equity implications of the RWHAP for each of four subgroups (based on race and ethnicity, age, gender, and HIV transmission category) and two outcomes (probability of being in care and treatment and probability of being virally suppressed)...

PURPOSE: To examine regional differences in disability status by sexual orientation and gender identity and to explore local factors that are associated with levels of inequalities for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other sexual orientations (LGB+) or transgender. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional ecological analysis of 2021 Census data from England and Wales. The main outcome variable was disability status. The main explanatory variables were sexual orientation and gender identity...

The number of studies examining gender differences in the social relationship rewards associated with costly religious practice has been surprisingly low. Here, we use data from 289 residents of an agricultural Tibetan village to assess whether individuals are more inclined to establish supportive relationships with religious individuals in general and to investigate the gender disparities in the relationship between religiosity and personal network characteristics. Our results reveal that participation in religious rituals contributes to the overall development of social support networks...

Social determinants of health (SDOH) encompass the social environmental factors and lived experiences that collectively shape an individual's health. Recently, the polysocial score approach has been introduced as an innovative method for capturing the cumulative impact of a broad spectrum of social factors. This approach offers a promising opportunity to complement and enhance conventional methodologies in the advancement of SDOH research. In this issue of the Journal, Jawadekar et al. (Am J Epidemiol. XXXX;XXX(XX):XX-X-XXXX) evaluated the value of the polysocial score for predicting cognitive performance and mortality among middle-aged and older adults...

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates educational inequalities in dual functionality, a new concept that captures a combination of physical and cognitive functioning, both of which are important for independent living and quality of life. METHODS: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Health Interview Study Linked Mortality Files, we define a measure of dual functionality based on the absence of limitations in activities of daily living and dementia...

INTRODUCTION: The health of women is of particular concern because they often have greater health needs than men and many women still lack access to quality healthcare services, preventing their ability to attain the best possible level of health. Hence, this study aimed to assess the accessibility and availability of health services among rural women. METHODS: A household survey was conducted by using a multi-stage sample with 407 married women aged 18-45 years, having at least one child and living in Tiruchirappalli District, Tamil Nadu were recruited for this study...

OBJECTIVE: Migrants and refugees are at a disadvantage in accessing basic necessities. The objective of this study is to assess the inequity in access, needs and determinants of COVID-19 vaccination among refugees and migrant populations in Pakistan. DESIGN: We conducted a mixed-method study comprising a cross-sectional survey and a qualitative study. In this paper, we will only report the findings from the cross-sectional survey. SETTING: This survey was conducted in different cities of Pakistan including Quetta, Karachi and Hyderabad...

INTRODUCTION: Social networking sites perpetuate gender stereotypes, inequalities, and gender violence, generating adverse health effects. METHODS: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between Instagram, alcohol consumption and effects on health, through interviews and discussion groups involving adolescents (high school or university students and workers), during the period from the third to the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: A total of 118 individuals participated in the study...

The issue of international migration and health has received increased attention since its rise due to empirical studies on the immigrant paradox. Less examined has been research focused on countries in the Global South with growing immigrant population share and contentious debates on implications. Using data from the longitudinal National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) (2008-2017) and panel logistic regression this study focused on evaluating whether reported physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction are all associated with immigrant status in South Africa...

BACKGROUND: Frequent social participation among older adults is associated with greater health. Although understanding how sex and gender influence social participation is important, particularly in developing sex-inclusive health promotion and preventive interventions, little is known about factors influencing engagement of older women and men in social activities. AIM: This study thus aimed to examine factors influencing social activities of older women and men...

OBJECTIVES: 1.1Biases inherent in electronic health records (EHRs), and therefore in medical artificial intelligence (AI) models may significantly exacerbate health inequities and challenge the adoption of ethical and responsible AI in healthcare. Biases arise from multiple sources, some of which are not as documented in the literature. Biases are encoded in how the data has been collected and labeled, by implicit and unconscious biases of clinicians, or by the tools used for data processing...

OBJECTIVES: Artificial intelligence (AI) systems have the potential to revolutionize clinical practices, including improving diagnostic accuracy and surgical decision-making, while also reducing costs and manpower. However, it is important to recognize that these systems may perpetuate social inequities or demonstrate biases, such as those based on race or gender. Such biases can occur before, during, or after the development of AI models, making it critical to understand and address potential biases to enable the accurate and reliable application of AI models in clinical settings...

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive condition associated with a variable prognosis. The relationship between socioeconomic status or distance travelled to respiratory clinics and prognosis is unclear. RESEARCH QUESTION: To determine whether socioeconomic status, distance to hospital and time to referral affects survival in patients with IPF. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we used data collected from the British Thoracic Society Interstitial Lung Diseases Registry, between 2013 and 2021 (n = 2359) and calculated the quintile of Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 score, time from initial symptoms to hospital attendance and distance as the linear distance between hospital and home post codes...

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates relationships among race, access to endoscopy services, and colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality in Washington state (WA). METHODS: We overlayed the locations of ambulatory endoscopy services with place of residence at time of death, using Department of Health data (2011-2018). We compared CRC mortality data within and outside a 10 ​km buffer from services. We used linear regression to assess the impact of distance and race on age at death while adjusting for gender and education level...

INTRODUCTION: The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia, presents key challenges to achieving optimal HIV care outcomes among ageing people living with HIV. These diseases are often comorbid and are exacerbated by psychosocial and structural inequities. This interaction among multiple health conditions and social factors is referred to as a syndemic. In the USA, there are substantial disparities by social position (ie, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic status) in the prevalence and/or control of non-communicable diseases and HIV...

OBJECTIVES: There is little global evidence about how physicians become abortion clinicians or advocates. We describe the ideological trajectories of self-identified pro-choice female Mexican doctors and the factors that made them become pro-choice. STUDY DESIGN: In this qualitative study we conducted semi-structured interviews with members of the Mexican Network of Female Pro-choice Physicians (Red de Médicas por el Derecho a Decidir - México). Participants came from 8 diverse states in Mexico...

AIM: The aim of this paper is to discuss the significance of the intersectionality framework for addressing prejudices, racism and inequalities in nursing education and clinical learning environments. BACKGROUND: Discrimination and racism against nursing students and educators based on their gender, ethnicity, race and social identities is well-documented in the nursing literature. Despite documented discrimination and incivility based on intersectional factors, it is reported that often nurse educators show limited interest in the culture, diverse experiences and values of nursing students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds...

BACKGROUND: Evidence remains limited and inconsistent for assessing cognitive function in Chinese older adults (CFCOA) and inequalities in cognitive function in Chinese older adults (ICFCOA) and exploring their influencing factors and gender differences. This study aimed to identify influencing factors and inequality in CFCOA to empirically explore the existence and sources of gender differences in such inequality and analyse their heterogeneous effects. METHODS: Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) for three periods from 2011 to 2015, recentered influence function unconditional quantile regression (RIF-UQR) and recentered influence function ordinary least squares (RIF-OLS) regression were applied to assess influencing factors of CFCOA, while grouped treatment effect estimation, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, and propensity score matching (PSM) methods were conducted to identify gender differences in ICFCOA and influencing factors, respectively...

PURPOSE: Mental health (MH) is a critical public health issue. Arab immigrants/refugees (AIR) may be at high risk for MH problems owing to various unique stressors, such as post-September/11 demonization. Despite the growing AIR population in Western countries, there is a lack of AIR-MH research in these nations. The CAN-HEAL study examined MH experiences and needs among AIR in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: This study employed a cooperative community-based participatory research and integrated knowledge translation approach...