Abbas Askari-Nodoushan; Mohammad Sasanipour; Majid Koosheshi; Ardashir Khosravi
Abstract
The different life cycles and lifestyles of men and women in human society have always led to significant gender differences in the mortality. So far, the studies on the gender gap in mortality are mostly carried out in western countries, and it is under research in Iran. The present study examines the ...
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The different life cycles and lifestyles of men and women in human society have always led to significant gender differences in the mortality. So far, the studies on the gender gap in mortality are mostly carried out in western countries, and it is under research in Iran. The present study examines the patterns of cause-by-age gender gap in mortality in Iran over the last decades. Data of this research were adopted from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and have been used after evaluation by the modified Brass-Trussell method and the Bennett-Horrurichi method. The findings show that the gap in life expectancy between male and female was about 3.5 years in 2006. This value is decreased to 2.9 and 3.0 years in 2011 and 2015, respectively. During the study period, about 80% of the gender gap in mortality was due to mortality differences between male and female aged 20-64 years old. The unintentional events in all three periods played a dominant role in the mortality of sex differences, but its share has declined significantly over time, with its contribution from 60% to around 42% between 2006 and 2015. By contrast, during this period, the role of cardiovascular disease has increased from 9% to 20% in explaining the mortality gap and the role of cancer rose from 10% to 15%. Examining the sex differences in death causes, in addition to showing the capacity to reduce men death, can be used to identify the critical points of women mortality by age and cause. By focusing on health planning and disease prevention in a specific direction, the sex differences in mortality can be decreased and also the life expectancy increased for both m,en and women.
