Sex differences in health and mortality in Moscow and Denmark

Abstract

In high income countries females outlive men, although they generally report worse health, the so-called male–female health-survival paradox. Russia has one of the world’s largest sex difference in life expectancy with a male disadvantage of more than 10 years. We compare components of the paradox between Denmark and Moscow by examining sex differences in mortality and several health measures. The Human Mortality Database and the Russian Fertility and Mortality Database were used to examine sex differences in all-cause death rates in Denmark, Russia, and Moscow in 2007–2008. Self-reported health data were obtained from the Study of Middle-Aged Danish Twins (n = 4,314), the Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins (n = 4,731), and the study of Stress, Aging, and Health in Russia (n = 1,800). In both Moscow and Denmark there was a consistent female advantage at ages 55–89 years in survival and a male advantage in self-rated health, physical functioning, and depression symptomatology. Only on cognitive tests males performed similarly to or worse than women. Nevertheless, Muscovite males had more than twice higher mortality at ages 55–69 years compared to Muscovite women, almost double the ratio in Denmark. The present study showed that despite similar directions of sex differences in health and mortality in Moscow and Denmark, the male–female health-survival paradox is very pronounced in Moscow suggesting a stronger sex-specific disconnect between health indicators and mortality among middle-aged and young-old Muscovites.

Changes in physical functioning among men and women aged 50–79 years in Germany: an analysis of National Health Interview and Examination Surveys, 1997–1999 and 2008–2011

“…We observed better physical functioning among men than women in cross-sectional analyses, consistent with a previous cross-sectional study of adults aged 55–89 years in Denmark and Russia using the SF-36 PF subscale [41]. Men have been reported to have lower prevalence of functional limitations and disability consistently across many countries including continental Europe, the UK and the US [10, 42].…”

Gender differences in symptoms of hypothyroidism: a population‐based DanThyr study

“…Previous Danish studies have indicated that ‘healthy’ women volunteers are less healthy than males, as they more often are medically treated for other diseases and have higher hospitalization rates in the years preceding the diagnosing of hypothyroidism . However, the authors concluded that this selection did not have large impact on study results …”

“…Previous surveys also reported a lower degree of wellness and health in women as expressed in terms of higher hospitalization rates and medical prescription prevalences, lower SF‐36 item scores, ameliorated physical performance, and lower degree of happiness …”

“…Such a differential threshold for reporting symptoms has also been demonstrated in various experimental pain models. 26 Previous surveys also reported a lower degree of wellness and health in women as expressed in terms of higher hospitalization rates 27 and medical prescription prevalences, 27 lower SF-36 item scores, 28 ameliorated physical performance, 27,29 and lower degree of happiness. 27 Among euthyroid controls, women reported more symptoms than men (≥1 symptom: 73Á7 vs 51Á1%, P < 0Á001; ≥2 symptoms: 57Á3 vs 30Á4%, P < 0Á001).…”

The Contextual and Household Contribution to Individual Health Status in Germany: What Is the Role of Gender and Migration Background?

“…However, migrants represent a heterogeneous group and differ in their origin, their cultural backgrounds, their motives to migrate, their duration of stay in the host country, their legal status, their degree of integration, their demographic behaviour, and many other characteristics (Lindert et al 2008;Norredam 2011;Neuhauser and Razum 2008). They differ both among themselves as well as from the society of origin and the host society.…”