Stress and Environmental Health of Women in different Neighbourhoods of Lagos Metropolis

Abstract

It has been established that women spend more time in the neighbourhood environment, and therefore, are more vulnerable to the observable poor conditions. The focus of this study is on neighbourhood environmental stressors that affect womens’ health in Lagos metropolis. The factors considered include access to clean water, adequate sanitation, drainage conditions, ventilation and hygiene, type of energy for cooking and nutrition. These factors are exacerbated by poverty and differ across different neighbourhoods in Lagos metropolis. 1150 respondents (high – 50; medium – 328; and low - 772) consisting of randomly selected women, aged 18 years and above were selected from all the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in metropolitan Lagos to achieve 100% representation. Focus Group Discussions were held with women from selected different neighbourhoods. A 5-point likert scale was used as a measure of self-reported stress and self-reported health, with higher numbers indicating a greater self-reported stress. From the different survey methods used, results show that women in the low income neighbourhoods are more vulnerable to environmental stressors, and so their health is mostly affected negatively. Women in the other income groups also experience some form of stress but at lower severity levels. Environmental stressors and severity of chronic illness are linked to stress. An improvement in the environmental conditions will reduce the amount of stress experienced by women of different income neighbourhoods.