A new study published in the scientific journal The Lancet Public Health has revealed the marked differences in health between women and men over 10 years of age around the world and has pointed out that in the last 30 years there have not been enough advances that allow these gaps to be closed. The authors of the work have examined the disparities in the 20 main causes of disease burden between both sexes at different ages and regions and have concluded that women live longer, but live in poorer health.
Specifically, the study results show that women globally face a number of non-fatal conditions, such as musculoskeletal disorders, mental disorders and headaches, which lead to health losses through illness and disability. On the other hand, men are disproportionately affected by conditions that result in premature deaths, including COVID-19, road traffic injuries, and cardiovascular, respiratory, and liver diseases.
Researchers distinguish between ‘sex’, which refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of women and men, and ‘gender’, which refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors and identities, which are also influenced by historical and cultural contexts. The interaction of these factors leads to different experiences of health and illness between men and women.
Main causes of poor health in men and women
The study uses data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study to compare the total number of years of life lost due to illness and premature death, a measure known as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), for the top 20 causes. of disease in women and men over 10 years of age globally and in seven world regions between 1990 and 2021. The analysis excludes sex-specific conditions, such as gynecological diseases or prostate cancer, but examines health differences between conditions that affect both women and men.
Data reveals that for 13 of the top 20 causes of disease burden, including COVID-19, road traffic injuries, and various cardiovascular, respiratory, and liver diseases, health loss was greater in men than women in 2021.
For example, COVID-19 disproportionately affected men in all regions and was overall the leading cause of health loss in 2021, with men experiencing 45% more health loss from COVID-19. 19 than women (3,978 vs. 2,211 age-standardized DALYs per 100,000).
For diseases with a disproportionate burden on men, such as ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic kidney disease, sex differences tend to be small at early ages and widen throughout life. The exception is the disproportionate number of road traffic injuries among young males (ages 10-24) worldwide.
“The challenge now is to design, implement and evaluate ways to prevent and treat the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality from an early age and in diverse populations, taking into account sex and gender”
Regarding women, the study suggests that the factors that contribute the most to the loss of health that affects women worldwide are low back pain, depressive disorders, headaches, anxiety disorders, other musculoskeletal disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and HIV/AIDS. These conditions predominantly contribute to illness and disability throughout life rather than leading to premature death.
Mental health problems disproportionately affect women in all regions of the world. For example, health loss caused by depressive disorders was more than a third higher among women than men (1,019 vs. 671 DALYs per 100,000) globally in 2021.
Longer-lived women, but with more ailments
For conditions where the largest gap disadvantages women, such as mental health conditions and musculoskeletal disorders, differences in health loss between women and men begin early in life and continue to intensify with age , leaving women with higher levels of illness and disability throughout their lives, in part because they tend to live longer than men. In Spain, for example, and according to the latest data available from the National Statistics Institute (INE), life expectancy is 80.3 years for men and 86.1 for women.
“The time is right for this study and a call to action, not only because of where the evidence is now, but because COVID-19 has clearly reminded us that sex differences can profoundly affect health outcomes,” he said. declared lead author Dr. Luisa Sorio Flor from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA.
“A key point the study highlights is how women and men differ in many biological and social factors that fluctuate and sometimes accumulate over time, causing them to experience health and illness differently at each stage of life.” life and in all regions of the world. The challenge now is to design, implement and evaluate ways to prevent and treat the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality from an early age and in diverse populations, taking into account sex and gender,” he adds.
“The major causes of health loss in women, particularly musculoskeletal disorders and mental health conditions, have not received the attention they deserve,” says co-lead author Gabriela Gil of IHME. “It is clear that women’s health care must extend far beyond the areas that health systems and research funding have prioritized to date, such as sexual and reproductive issues.”
“Diseases that disproportionately affect women in all regions of the world, such as depressive disorders, are underfunded compared to the enormous burden they pose, and only a small proportion of global public health spending goes to mental illnesses. Future planning of health systems must encompass the full spectrum of issues that affect women throughout their lives, especially given the increased level of disability they endure and the increasing proportion of women and men in the populations they serve. “they get older,” concludes the researcher.
This study not only highlights the health differences that begin to emerge in adolescence, a critical time where gender norms and attitudes intensify and puberty reshapes self-perceptions, but also highlights the need to design, implement and evaluate sex- and gender-informed methods to prevent and treat leading causes of morbidity and premature mortality from an early age and in diverse populations.
