Department of Rural Health, University of Melbourne, Docker Street, Wangaratta, VIC 3677, Australia.
Department of Rural Health, University of Melbourne, Broadway Street, Cobram, VIC 3644, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 15;18(2):722. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18020722.
Women are predicted to be disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased carer responsibilities, loss of income, worry about the virus and a predominantly female healthcare workforce. Whilst there is emerging evidence that negative mental health impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may be more pronounced for women than men, less attention has focussed on changes to health behaviours and health seeking experienced by women. Similarly, the impact of the pandemic in rural areas has not been investigated in detail. Our research questions were '' and ''. Net increases (scale of 0-1) in consumption of unhealthy food (95% CI 0.05, 0.22) and alcohol (95% CI 0.12, 0.29) were observed. Net decreases (scale of -1 to 0) in visits to the doctor (95% CI -0.23, -0.35) and other health professionals (95% CI -0.40, -0.54) were observed. Compared with females living without children, females who lived with children were significantly associated with increased alcohol consumption (OR 2.4 (95% CI 1.4, 4.1), decreased visits to the doctor (OR 1.9 (95% CI 1.1, 3.2) and decreased visits to other health professionals (OR 1.9 (95% CI 1.1, 3.3). Results suggest that public health approaches may be required to support females residing in rural areas to optimise their health behaviours during the pandemic, particularly for those living with children. Policies must be gender responsive to counteract worsening health and social inequities both during and after the pandemic.
由于照顾者责任增加、收入减少、对病毒的担忧以及女性在医疗保健劳动力中占主导地位，预计女性将不成比例地受到 COVID-19 大流行的影响。虽然有证据表明，与 COVID-19 大流行相关的负面心理健康影响对女性可能比男性更为明显，但人们对女性经历的健康行为和寻求健康的变化关注较少。同样，大流行对农村地区的影响也没有详细调查。我们的研究问题是“ 和 ”。观察到不健康食品消费（95%CI0.05，0.22）和酒精消费（95%CI0.12，0.29）净增加（0-1 级）。观察到看医生（95%CI-0.23，-0.35）和其他卫生专业人员（95%CI-0.40，-0.54）的就诊次数净减少（-1 到 0 级）。与没有孩子的女性相比，与孩子一起生活的女性与饮酒量增加（OR2.4（95%CI1.4，4.1））、看医生次数减少（OR1.9（95%CI1.1，3.2））和看其他卫生专业人员次数减少（OR1.9（95%CI1.1，3.3））显著相关。结果表明，可能需要采取公共卫生措施来支持农村地区的女性在大流行期间优化其健康行为，特别是对于那些与孩子一起生活的女性。政策必须对性别有反应，以在大流行期间和之后抵消健康和社会不平等的恶化。
