ArticlePopulation health metrics2021
The contributions of public health policies and healthcare quality to gender gap and country differences in life expectancy in the UK.
Article in Population health metrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- A global analysis of the burden of ischemic heart disease attributable to diet low in ω-3 fatty acids between 1990 and 2021.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- 'On paper, you're normal': narratives of unseen health needs among women who have had children removed from their care.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Contributions of avoidable mortality to the sex gap in life expectancy and life disparity in Iran.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- The contributions of injury deaths to the gender gap in life expectancy and life disparity in Eastern Mediterranean Region.Injury epidemiology · 2023Article
- Gender equality related to gender differences in life expectancy across the globe gender equality and life expectancy.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Development of gender inequality in self-rated health in the life-phase of raising children in Germany from 1994 to 2018 - A decomposition analysis of socioeconomic, psychosocial and family-related influencing factors.SSM - population health · 2022Article
- The gap in life expectancy and lifespan inequality between Iran and neighbour countries: the contributions of avoidable causes of death.International journal for equity in health · 2022Article
- Gender equality and the gender gap in life expectancy in the European Union.BMJ global health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn many high-income countries, life expectancy (LE) has increased, with women outliving men. This gender gap in LE (GGLE) has been explained with biological factors, healthy behaviours, health status, and sociodemographic characteristics, but little attention has been paid to the role of public health policies that include/affect these factors. This study aimed to assess the contributions of avoidable causes of death, as a measure of public health policies and healthcare quality impacts, to the GGLE and its temporal changes in the UK. We also estimated the contributions of avoidable causes of death into the gap in LE between countries in the UK.
methodsWe obtained annual data on underlying causes of death by age and sex from the World Health Organization mortality database for the periods 2001-2003 and 2014-2016. We calculated LE at birth using abridged life tables. We applied Arriaga's decomposition method to compute the age- and cause-specific contributions into the GGLE in each period and its changes between two periods as well as the cross-country gap in LE in the 2014-2016 period.
resultsAvoidable causes had greater contributions than non-avoidable causes to the GGLE in both periods (62% in 2001-2003 and 54% in 2014-2016) in the UK. Among avoidable causes, ischaemic heart disease (IHD) followed by injuries had the greatest contributions to the GGLE in both periods. On average, the GGLE across the UK narrowed by about 1.0 year between 2001-2003 and 2014-2016 and three avoidable causes of IHD, lung cancer, and injuries accounted for about 0.8 years of this reduction. England & Wales had the greatest LE for both sexes in 2014-2016. Among avoidable causes, injuries in men and lung cancer in women had the largest contributions to the LE advantage in England & Wales compared to Northern Ireland, while drug-related deaths compared to Scotland in both sexes.
conclusionWith avoidable causes, particularly preventable deaths, substantially contributing to the gender and cross-country gaps in LE, our results suggest the need for behavioural changes by implementing targeted public health programmes, particularly targeting younger men from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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