Men aged 50 years and above at higher risk of death than women: Study

An extensive study by researchers has revealed that men aged 50 years and above may have a significantly higher risk of death than women of the same age group.

This risk could be due to heavier rates of smoking and cardio-vascular diseases reported in men, the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said.

However, the researchers also found that the gap in mortality risk among men and women varied across countries.

One of the authors of the study, Yu-Tzu Wu from King’s College London and Newcastle University in the UK, said: “Many studies have examined the potential impact of social, behavioural and biological factors on sex differences in mortality, but few have been able to investigate potential variation across countries.”

“Different cultural traditions, historical contexts, and economic and societal developments may influence gender experiences in different countries, and thus variably affect the health status of men and women,” he added.

Scope of study

For the study, the researchers analysed different socio-economic, lifestyle, health, and social factors that might contribute to the mortality gap between men and women aged 50 and older.

The data included over 1,79,000 people across 28 countries and more than half — 55 per cent — were women.

Findings

The findings suggested that men aged 50 and over had a 60 per cent increased risk of death than women, partly explained by heavier rates of smoking and heart disease in men.

“The effects of sex on mortality should include not only physiologic variation between men and women but also the social construct of gender, which differs across societies. In particular, the large variation across countries may imply a greater effect of gender than sex,” Wu said.

“Although the biology of the sexes is consistent across populations, variation in cultural, societal and historical contexts can lead to different life experiences of men and women and variation in the mortality gap across countries,” Wu added.

The researchers noted that the findings are consistent with the literature on life expectancy and death rates.

“The heterogeneity of sex differences in mortality across countries may indicate the substantial impact of gender on healthy aging in addition to biological sex, and the crucial contribution of smoking may also vary across different populations,” said the study.

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