People across the world are living longer, on the whole. At the same time, the gap between male and female longevity is narrowing even though women still outlive men, according to a report out Wednesday in PLOS ONE.
David Atance, a researcher at Universidad de Alcalá in Spain, evaluated mortality data from 194 countries and grouped it into five clusters, which largely correlate with five continents. While the data wasn’t new, the way he grouped it was more sophisticated in the past. That is, the team used new approaches to evaluate data on nine mortality indicators including life expectancy at birth. The data covered 1990 to 2020.
In 1990 and 2010, those countries could be clustered into five groups based on their mortality/longevity characteristics. Some countries changed clusters between those two time points; issues such as wars, political conditions and socioeconomic factors played a role.
The team also used the data to predict what mortality and longevity outcomes will look like in 2030. The researchers say trends will continue with life expectancy increasing and the male-female gap in mortality decreasing.
Among all of the clusters, the researchers found that Africa is the region with the most significant improvements in mortality indicators. Health factors are improving there, causing people to live longer. Even though high-income countries continue to grow, the improvements slowed over time. This may be because these areas already have the infrastructure in place to support optimal health or give better medical care.
The mortality gap between men and women, meanwhile, is decreasing. This is because women, over time and in general, have entered the workforce and are exposed to factors that can lower life expectancy in men, such as smoking and drinking. Also, men lose the Y chromosome as they age, and that is linked to a higher risk for death from age-related diseases such as cardiovascular and heart diseases, fibrosis, cardiac dysfunction and other ailments. Even though women have those exposures, the fact that men lose the Y chromosome means they will not live as long as women even if longevity in general goes up for both sexes, the researchers noted.
Women live about five years longer than men in the United States, and seven years longer globally, according to one estimate.
