ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2023
The underwhelming German life expectancy.
Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- APOSCREEN-1 - a prospective, single-arm clinical trial for the implementation of a pharmacy-based screening for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic risk factors in Schleswig-Holstein.BMC nephrology · 2026Trial
- Social determinants of mental health in Germany: a systematic scoping review mapping the landscape of researched determinants, outcome measures, and explanatory concepts.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Incidence of arterial hypertension in Germany 2009-2018 based on prevalence data from 70 million patients from the statutory health insurance.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Article
- [Prevention and screening in cardiovascular medicine].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- [Coronary heart disease-a German paradox : Using AI-based technology to solve a relevant healthcare problem].Herzschrittmachertherapie & Elektrophysiologie · 2026Review
- Statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in Germany: benefits and costs.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- LipidSnapshot - Treatment gaps in hypercholesterolemia in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease documented by office-based cardiologists and general practitioners in Germany.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- Less intensive lipid-lowering therapy after ST-elevation myocardial infarction is associated with cardiovascular events: 2-year follow-up of "Jena auf Ziel".Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- A call for high-intensity lipid-lowering treatment of ASCVD patients diagnosed by coronary computed tomography angiography: lessons from the multi-center LOCATE study.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- Potential and challenges for sustainable progress in human longevity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- National Life Expectancy Lags Behind Benchmark Progress and the Role of Smoking: An International Comparison.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2025Article
- Spatial Differences in Avoidable Mortality Across 581 European Districts, 2002-2019.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2025Article
- Individual- and area-level socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence in the working-age population - a cohort study based on German statutory health insurance data, 2015 to 2019.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Understanding changes to life expectancy and inequalities in the UK, Germany, and other high-income countries.Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Review
- Stroke - prevalence, trends, and regional patterns in Germany. An analysis based on routine data from the statutory health insurance.Journal of health monitoring · 2025Article
- Getting closer to each other? Convergence and divergence patterns of life expectancy in 277 border regions of Western Europe 1995-2019.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- GPs' experienced challenges and strategies for supporting patient self-management in disease management programs for type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease - a qualitative study.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- [Fracture prevention with zoledronate in postmenopausal women].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Trends in smoking-attributable cardiovascular mortality in Germany.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- [Update on cardiovascular prevention 2025].Herz · 2025Review
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4 authors.
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Abstract
This article contributes to the discussion on the determinants of diverging life expectancy in high-income countries, with a focus on Germany. To date, much of this discourse has centered around the social determinants of health, issues of healthcare equity, poverty and income inequality, and new epidemics of opioids and violence. Yet despite doing well on all of these metrics and having numerous advantages such as comparatively strong economic performance, generous social security, and an equitable and well-resourced health care system, Germany has been a long-time life expectancy laggard among the high-income countries. Using aggregated population-level mortality data for Germany and selected six high-income countries (Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) from the Human Mortality Database and WHO Mortality Database, we find that the German longevity shortfall is mainly explained by a longstanding disadvantage in survival among older adults and adults nearing statutory retirement age, which mainly stems from sustained excess cardiovascular disease mortality, even when compared to other laggard countries such as the US and the UK. Patchy contextual data suggests that the unfavorable pattern of cardiovascular mortality may be driven by underperforming primary care and disease prevention. More systematic and representative data on risk factors are needed to strengthen the evidence base on the determinants of the controversial and long-standing health gap between more successful countries and Germany. The German example calls for broader narratives of population health that embed the variety of epidemiological challenges populations face around the globe.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.