Global evidence has shown that women’s environmental quality of life is fundamental to their overall quality of life and health, according to a study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Suzanne Skevington of the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and colleagues.
Gender inequalities in health-related quality of life are generally small and limited, even in large surveys.
However, many generic measures limit assessment to overall quality of life and to its physical and psychological dimensions, neglecting environmental, social, and spiritual quality of life, which is internationally important.
To overcome this limitation, Skevington and colleagues collected data through four surveys of 17,608 adults living in 43 cultures worldwide.
The researchers analyzed data spanning six domains of quality of life: physical, psychological, independence, social, environmental, and spiritual.
Results showed that environmental quality of life accounted for 46% of women’s overall quality of life and health, with the home environment contributing the most to this outcome.
Additionally, women under 45 reported the poorest quality of life across all domains. After 45 years of age, all domains, except physical quality of life, rose to very good levels, and elevated levels persisted beyond age 75, especially environmental quality of life.
According to the authors, the environmental actions that young adults take to draw public attention to climate change may be motivated by their poorer environmental quality of life. The very good environmental quality of life among older women may be a reason for them to work toward maintaining this characteristic valued for future generations.
This could be a topic for future research, since the data for this study were collected before it was widely recognized that the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss would depend on changes in human behavior.
Meanwhile, the results underscore the importance of assessing environmental, social, and spiritual quality of life in order to fully understand women’s quality of life and health.
Additionally, the findings from this study could be used to inform timely interventions aimed at improving the quality of life of young and older women.
The authors add: “For women, the effect of the environment, in particular, on their quality of life is substantial. This includes factors such as housing conditions, financial resources, and environmental health, including pollution levels.”
