A new study by UC San Francisco and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has found that the life expectancy gap between men and women in the United States has been widening since 2010. The research reveals that the gap has now increased to 5.8 years in 2021, the largest it’s been since 1996, marking a sharp increase from 4.8 years in 2010, when the gap was at its smallest in recent history.
The study identified the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose epidemic as key factors contributing to this trend. Men have experienced higher mortality rates during the pandemic, which has been influenced by factors like health behaviors, social risks, and chronic conditions. This, alongside increasing deaths from unintentional injuries, mostly through drug overdoses, accidents, and suicides, has been significant contributors to the widening gap between men and women.
The research also highlighted that life expectancy in the U.S. dropped in 2021 to 76.1 years, falling from 78.8 years in 2019 and 77 years in 2020. The shortening lifespan of Americans has been attributed in part to “deaths of despair,” which include causes such as suicide, drug use disorders, and alcoholic liver disease, often connected with economic hardship, depression, and stress.
The authors of the study raised concerns about the need for gender-specific healthcare interventions to address this rising disparity in life expectancy. They emphasized the importance of developing specialized care for men, such as in mental health, to help reverse this decline in life expectancy.
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, calls for further analysis to track these trends closely as the pandemic recedes and highlights the need for significant investments in prevention and care to ensure that this widening disparity, among many others, does not become entrenched.
The research was conducted using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, with funding received from no source, and the study authors reporting no conflicts of interest. Additional authors affiliated with the National Center for Health Statistics and the Boston University School of Public Health were involved in the research.
The full paper titled “Widening Gender Gap in Life Expectancy in the US, 2010-2021” is available in JAMA Internal Medicine.