Global Disability Innovation Hub

We're delighted to share a new publication launched in The Lancet from our UK Aid funded hashtag : 'Demographic, socioeconomic, & social barriers to use of mobility assistive products: a multistate analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing'.

Authored by GDI Hub's Jamie Danemayer the study showed that women are more likely than men to experience mobility limitations that could benefit from the use of mobility aids - but are much less likely to use them when needed.

Though prevalence of disability continues to rise among the over fifties, many people do not have access to the mobility aids needed to maintain independence. Published in The Lancet Public Health, the study explored which demographics are more or less likely to use mobility aids, when they would benefit from them.

The team analysed survey responses from 12,080 participants aged 50-89 over 13 years (2006-2019), using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Of the 8,432 participants that reported having some mobility difficulty, 61% experienced unmet need at least once, while 39% reported using a mobility aid at least once.

Women were 50% more likely than men to transition from not needing a mobility aid to unmet need status during the study period, but were 20% less likely to transition from unmet need to use.

The research highlights a gender inequality that needs to be addressed to improve an overlooked area of public health.

Jamie Danemayer, first author of the study from UCL Computer Science and UCL’s Global Disability Innovation Hub, said: “Our analysis suggests that there is a clear gender gap in access to mobility aids. Though our data didn’t ascertain the reason why participants weren’t using mobility aids, other research tells us that women are often more likely than men to face obstacles such as cost barriers as a result of well-documented income disparities between genders."

“Many mobility aids are designed for men rather than women, which we think may be a factor. Using mobility aids can also make a disability visible, which can impact the safety and stigma experienced by women in particular. There’s a critical need for further research to identify and break down the barriers preventing women from accessing mobility aids that would improve their quality of life.”

Co-authors include: Mikaela Bloomberg ∙ Adam Mills ∙ Catherine Holloway ∙ Shereen Hussein. This study is from researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Read the publication in full ➡️

Demographic, socioeconomic, and social barriers to use of mobility assistive products: a multistate analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women might be disproportionately likely to have unmet MAP needs, whereas other demographic, socioeconomic, and social factors are associated with high MAP need overall. Our findings directly support efforts towards expanding access to assistive products and identifying groups that could particularl...