Determine the sex most at risk of premature death

A new study has confirmed that, globally, there are significant differences between females and males when it comes to health and burden of disease.

The study indicates that men are more likely to develop health conditions that lead to early death, while women live longer, causing them to face higher levels of disease and disability throughout their lives.

The results also indicate that little progress has been made over the past 30 years to close the gap.

Non-fatal conditions that particularly affect females globally and lead to loss of health through disease and disability include musculoskeletal conditions, mental health conditions, and headache disorders. While males are disproportionately affected by conditions that lead to more premature deaths, such as Covid-19, road injuries, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory and liver diseases.

According to the results, these differences continue to grow with age.

Dr Luisa Sorio Flor, a senior researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA, said: “Females have longer lives but live more years in poor health, with limited progress in reducing the burden of conditions that lead to disease and disability. "This underscores the urgent need for greater attention to the non-fatal consequences that limit women's physical and mental function, especially at advanced ages. Likewise, males suffer a much greater and increasing burden of disease with fatal consequences."

The study looked at disparities in 20 leading causes of illness and death between men and women, across different ages and regions.

The researchers used data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 study, which did not include sex-specific health conditions, such as gynecological diseases or prostate cancer.

The analysis estimates that for 13 out of 20 causes of illness and death, including Covid-19, road accidents, and a range of heart, respiratory and liver diseases, the rate was higher in men than in women in 2021.

Co-lead author of the study, Dr Vedavati Patwardhan, from the University of California, USA, said: “Our findings highlight the significant and unique health challenges faced by males. Among these challenges are conditions that lead to premature death, particularly in the form of Road injuries, cancer and heart disease.

He added: "We need national health plans and strategies to meet the health needs of men throughout their lives, including interventions that target behavioral risks, such as alcohol use and smoking that usually begin at an early age."

Among the cases evaluated, the study indicates that the greatest contributors to harm are to women globally,These are low back pain, depressive disorders, headache disorders, anxiety disorders, other bone and muscle disorders, Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, and HIV/AIDS.

The study found that these conditions contribute to illness and disability throughout life rather than leading to early death. Differences in health loss between females and males begin early in life and continue to increase with age.

This pattern underscores the need for targeted responses from an early age to prevent the onset and worsening of health conditions, and the need to adopt a life-span approach when planning health systems so that they are well equipped to deal with the needs of the populations they serve.