| dc.description.abstract | Background: Indoor air pollution is one of the major leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Nepal and the problem is more in slums where the housing conditions are poor and unhygienic. Prolonged exposure to any form of indoor air pollution is associated with degrading health of the people especially women as they spend more time inside the home compared to other family members. Thus, this study tried to find out the association between markers of indoor air pollution and health-related quality of life of women in urban slums of Nepal. This study also tried to explore the local and national strategies that are being used to cope with the problem of indoor air pollution.
Methods: This study used mixed methods to access the relevant information. For the quantitative approach two-stage proportional sampling technique was used to select 400 women living in 5 different clusters of slums of Kathmandu as study participants and data were collected using an SF-36 questionnaire and mixtures of questions of markers of indoor air pollution. For the qualitative study 5 FGDs were conducted with the women of the slums, each FGD consisting of 5-6 participants.
Findings: This study found that not having a separate kitchen in the home was significantly associated with reduced scores in emotional well-being, emotional role function, energy and fatigue, and general health domains of HRQOL of women in slums. Similarly, the practice of indoor smoking was significantly associated with decreased scores in physical functioning, emotional wellbeing, social functioning, energy and fatigue, and bodily pain domains of HRQOL. While the use of unclean fuel had a significant positive association with the energy and fatigue domain of HRQOL. Exposure to indoor air pollution was significantly associated with lower scores on physical role function, bodily pain, emotional wellbeing, social functioning, and energy and fatigue domains of HRQOL. From the qualitative approach, it was found that to reduce the effect of indoor air pollution and meet energy demand, a special focus was given to the use of electricity.
Conclusion: Exposure to indoor air pollution degrades the health-related quality of life of women in slums. This study provides evidence that promotion of the use of clean fuel, improving housing and kitchen standards, and raising awareness of the effects of indoor smoking and indoor air pollution help in reducing women's exposure to indoor air pollution and protect them from their degrading health-related quality of life.
Keywords: Indoor Air Pollution, Slums, Women, Health Related Quality of Life, SF-36 | |