Health Impact Analysis of Physical Workload on Rural Women Residing in Hilly Terrain of Uttarakhand

Abstract

Rural women in India have always been viewed as a gender which is best suitable for household work and not as a conventional monetary contributor. In general, life is difficult for rural women but it’s even harder to live in mountains where basic requisite for living conditions such as potable water, fuel wood, cattle fodder, and hospital etc., never comes easy and leads to manual material handling of the tasks such as awkward or restrained heavy lifting, carrying, pushing, or tugging. It is amajor health concerns among rural women causing long-term suffering, disability, reduced productivity, and increased medical expenses among rural women due to the well-established risk factor of excessive physical labor. Present study investigates the probable catalysts pertaining to the physical health of rural women native to the mountainous region. 150 women from Amsore village of Uttarakhand were enrolled for this study. All the participants were evaluated using a semi-structured questionnaire for demographic profile and Borg scale of perceived exertion for activities impact assessment. Fetching water (100%), fodder collection (71.33%) and firewood collection (80%) were reported as the most exertion inducing tasks causing physical stress to the women. Low income, unemployment, and poverty, as well as inadequate education, poor sanitation, hazardous working environments, and a lack of access to health care, have been identified as major contributors to health disparities. In order to increase socio-economic contribution and lower the frequency of health injuries among women, these findings urge for preventive efforts and safety guidelines.