The Potential Impact of Sexual Equality on Health

TLDR

Sex differences in health are evident, with men experiencing higher mortality and chronic disease rates, while women face greater disability and service use, largely driven by behavioral and sex‑role changes rather than biology. Trend data show that men have become relatively more disadvantaged during a period of medical advances and expanded access to care.

Abstract

There are major differences between the sexes in morbidity and mortality rates. At all ages males have higher death rates and are more frequently afflicted with the chronic diseases associated with considerable reductions in longevity. Trend data indicate that males have become relatively more disadvantaged during a period characterized by major advances in medicine and increased access to care. In contrast, rates of disability and use of services are higher among females. There is some evidence that these differences are associated more with behavioral than with biologic factors. Certain shifts in age-specific mortality rates reflect sex-role-related changes in behavior--e.g., increased consumption of tobacco by women and a reversal in sex mortality ratio for cancer of the lung. Changes in sex roles may affect directly, or indirectly through family dynamics, the health status of both sexes.