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

Mobility loss is an important global public health issue because it often represents a pre-clinical stage of disability and because it is associated with severe disability, death, and large healthcare expenditures [1‐4]. Many studies have demonstrated that women have greater mobility disability than men [5‐9]. This gap is thought to be due to a greater incidence of mobility disability in women rather than differences in recovery from disability or mortality [6]. Reasons for the gap in mobility disability are not entirely clear but are at least partly due to a greater risk of certain diseases in women (arthritis, depression) that are important to mobility [10‐12]. Life course exposures such as physical activity, smoking, diet, childhood hunger, poverty, and body mass index have also been investigated to explain the gender gap. However, two studies did not find evidence that these factors explained the gender gap in mobility [13] and concluded that additional biological and social factors were needed to explain differences in mobility between men and women [14]. Interestingly, there is evidence from a population-based study in Sweden that the gender gap in mobility disability has diminished over time, perhaps as gender equality has improved. In Sweden, the age-adjusted odds ratios for having difficulty climbing stairs, running 100 meters, and walking 100 meters in women versus men decreased from 1968 to 1991 [15]. For example, the age-adjusted odds ratio for having difficulty walking up stairs in women was 2.1 in 1968 while it dropped to 1.5 in subsequent years. This observation led us to question whether the gender gap is different in world regions with different levels of gender equality. The gender mobility gap may be the result of latent and cumulative differences in exposure to mobility risk factors from birth to old age.

The World Health Survey (WHS) data, in which population-based data were collected from 70 countries throughout the world, provide a unique opportunity to examine the gender gap in mobility disability in regions with different profiles of gender equality. We hypothesized that regions with more gender inequality would have a greater difference in mobility disability between women and men. We have recently documented the gender mobility gap in three West African countries using data from WHS [16]. Here, we analysed WHS data to 1) assess the gender gap in mobility difficulty in 70 countries of the world; 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.

Table 2 shows the distribution of characteristics of men and women in the WHS. There were statistically significant differences between men and women for all sociodemographic and health variables. The mean ages for men and women in the WHS were 38 and 40 years old respectively. Men were more likely to never have married than women while women were more likely to be widowed (P < 0.01). Women were more likely to not have any formal education and to report all chronic conditions (P < 0.01).

In Table 3, we examined the characteristics of those with and without mobility difficulty. Women were more likely than men to report mobility difficulty (38% versus 27%, P < 0.01). Those who were older, had less formal education, lived in rural areas, and had chronic health conditions were more likely to report mobility difficulty (P < 0.01). Marital status was also associated with mobility difficulty such that those who never married had the least mobility difficulty (P < 0.01).

In Table 4, the prevalence rate ratios for female gender are given adjusting for different sets of covariates while holding the number of observations constant. The age-adjusted prevalence rate ratio for gender in Model 1 was 1.35 (95% CI 1.31-1.38). In other words, women had a 35% higher prevalence of mobility difficulty than men. The addition of education, marital status, and urban versus rural setting in Model 2 slightly reduced the prevalence rate ratio for female gender to 1.30 (95% CI 1.26-1.33). Adding the 5 health variables (back pain, arthritis, angina, depressive symptoms, and cognitive difficulties) in Model 3 further reduced the prevalence rate ratio for female gender to 1.12 (95% CI 1.09-1.15).

We then examined whether the gender gap in mobility difficulty differed across world regions by examining region-specific regression models (Table 5). After age adjustment, the gender gap was the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean (prevalence rate ratio (PRR) = 1.66, 95% CI 1.51-1.81) and was the smallest in the Western Pacific (PRR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.06-1.18). In the fully adjusted model (Model 3), that pattern remained with the gender gap in the Western Pacific completely disappearing (PRR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.98-1.08). Adding interaction terms for gender and world region to an age-adjusted model for all regions combined resulted in statistically significant interactions for the Western Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean regions compared to Africa (data not shown in Table 5, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001 respectively). In other words, the prevalence rate ratio for female gender in the Eastern Mediterranean was significantly larger than in Africa while the prevalence rate ratio in the Western Pacific was significantly smaller than in Africa. Consistent with this result, of the 6 world regions in the WHS, countries in the Western Pacific region had the smallest difference between the HDI and the GDI while countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region had the largest.

The countries listed as part of the Eastern Mediterranean region by the WHS included Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These countries differ substantially in economic development, religious freedom, and geography. They share in common large Muslim populations. Despite the diversity of these 4 countries, there was not substantial heterogeneity in the age-adjusted prevalence rate ratios for female gender in each of these 4 countries as the prevalence rate ratios ranged from 1.54 (95% CI 1.12, 2.13) in the United Arab Emirates to 1.96 (95% CI 1.72, 2.23) in Tunisia. Furthermore, the differences between the human development index and the gender development index for 4 of the 5 countries were in the largest quartile of all the WHS countries (The UAE did not have data on the gender development index). At the other end of the gender equality spectrum, the countries listed as part of the Western Pacific by the WHS included Australia, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Vietnam. Again, despite the diversity of these countries, the age-adjusted prevalence rate ratios for female gender were fairly similar ranging from 1.04 (95% CI 0.99, 1.10) in the Philippines to 1.39 (95% CI 1.15, 1.68) in China. The differences between the human development index and the gender development index for 4 of the 6 countries were in the smallest quartile of all the WHS counties while Malaysia and Lao were in the smallest 30^th percentile.

This is the first study to use world-wide data to examine the gender gap in mobility disability. The WHS included data from 70 high, middle, and low income countries providing a unique opportunity to compare the gender gap in these diverse socioeconomic and cultural environments. We found support for our hypothesis that regions with more gender inequality would have a greater difference in mobility difficulty between women and men. The region with the largest gender gap in mobility difficulty was the Eastern Mediterranean, which also had the greatest difference between HDI and GDI indicating greater loss of human development due to gender inequality. Conversely, the region with the smallest gender gap in mobility difficulty was the Western Pacific, which had the smallest difference between the HDI and GDI among the 6 world regions of the WHS.

The risk of mobility disability can be reduced by minimizing the risk of chronic conditions by following preventive health practices like getting enough physical activity, treating hypertension and high cholesterol, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and not smoking [22]. Clearly, the ability to follow these preventive health practices is impaired without sufficient autonomy and resources, a reality for many men and even more women in the world today. The opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle is essential and it may be deprived of women living in areas with great gender inequality.

Most prior research on the gender gap in mobility disability has been done in the United States [5, 6, 8, 9]. A few studies have been done in middle or low income countries. For example, data from a survey of older adults living in 6 Latin American and Caribbean cities found that women were more likely than men to have lower extremity limitations (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 2.04, 2.79) [23]. A study of 604 older adults in rural Guatemala found that women were more likely than men to report gross mobility disability after age adjustment (OR = 2.10, P < 0.001) [21]. Women had greater disability in activities of daily living than men in an older, urban Brazilian population (OR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.32, 3.55) that persisted even after adjustment for social and health conditions [24]. Two additional studies in the Eastern Mediterranean region have previously reported the gender mobility gap [25, 26]. Our results greatly add to this prior research by examining this issue on a world-wide basis and including all adults over 18 years of age rather than just older adults.

We found that the gender gap was attenuated after adjusting for health factors. Previous studies done in older adults have also reported this, emphasizing arthritis and obesity as two major reasons for the gender gap [9]. Another reason that could explain the gender gap in mobility disability includes an increased risk of sarcopenia in older women [27]. In our data, which included adults of all ages, the two health conditions that caused the biggest decreases in the prevalence rate ratio for gender were back pain and cognitive difficulties. Sociodemographic factors besides gender that were associated with mobility difficulty included older age, being widowed, having no formal education, and living in a rural setting (P < 0.05). A report of a diagnosis of arthritis, a diagnosis of angina, and report of difficulty with cognitive tasks like remembering things or concentrating were also associated with mobility difficulty (P < 0.05).

The major strength of this study is that it includes population-based data from 70 countries from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. We added to this dataset by including country-level data on gender inequality from the United Nations database. The large sample size in the WHS allowed us to test whether the gender gap in mobility difficulty differed by region, which had never been done before. A limitation of this dataset is that the data are collected by self-report. However, the question on mobility difficulty used by the WHS correlates well with the Timed Up and Go test, an objective measure of mobility [28]. In a sample of 161 older adults at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, we found a moderate correlation between the WHS question on mobility difficulty and the Timed Up and Go time in which people are asked to rise from a seated position, walk 3 meters across the room, and return to the chair (r = 0.51, P < 0.01). In addition, as proof of construct validity, we have shown that answers to this question correlate strongly with mobility risk factors in this paper and in our previous publication in 3 African countries [16]. Another limitation is that the cross-sectional nature of this dataset does not allow us to examine the onset or duration of mobility difficulty.

Women reported greater mobility difficulty than men and this difference was attenuated after adjustment for chronic health conditions. Furthermore, our data suggest that the gender gap in mobility difficulty is greatest in regions that are losing the most human development due to gender inequality. More attention must be devoted to empowering and encouraging men and women across the world to follow preventive health practices like getting enough physical activity, treating hypertension and high cholesterol, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and not smoking [22].