Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) do not have equal access to resources, such as education, employment, or healthcare compared to men. We sought to explore health disparities and associations between gender prioritization, sociocultural factors, and household decision-making in Central Malawi.Methods
From June-August 2017, a cross-sectional study with 200 participants was conducted in Central Malawi. We evaluated respondents' access to care, prioritization within households, decision-making power, and gender equity which was measured using the Gender-Equitable Men (GEM) scale. Relationships between these outcomes and sociodemographic factors were analyzed using multivariable mixed-effect logistic regression.Results
We found that women were less likely than men to secure community-sourced healthcare financial aid (68.6% vs. 88.8%, p?ConclusionWomen report greater barriers to healthcare and adhere to more traditional gender roles than men in this Central Malawian population. Women contribute to their own gender's barriers to care and economic empowerment alone is not enough to correct for these socially constructed roles. We found that education and matriarchal societies may protect against gender disparities. Overall, internal and external gender discrimination contribute to a woman's disproportionate lack of access to care.
SUBMITTER: Azad AD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7672876 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique 20201117 1
<h4>Background</h4>Women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) do not have equal access to resources, such as education, employment, or healthcare compared to men. We sought to explore health disparities and associations between gender prioritization, sociocultural factors, and household decision-making in Central Malawi.<h4>Methods</h4>From June-August 2017, a cross-sectional study with 200 participants was conducted in Central Malawi. We evaluated respondents' access to care, prioritizati ...[more]