American Men More Likely To Die Early Than Peers Abroad, Study Finds

New evidence points to American men having a higher mortality rate from preventable causes compared to their peers from other high-income countries.

This is according to a study recently published in the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on public health issues.

Using data from the organization’s International Health Policy Survey and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the report compared “health care accessibility, affordability and health status” for adult men across 11 high-income countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Australia.

Out of the 11 countries that the study covered, American men were among the highest when it comes to  rates of chronic conditions, avoidable deaths and mental health needs.

Men from the U.S. and Australia were prone to report suffering from multiple chronic conditions at 29% and 25%, respectively. Meanwhile, the lowest rate was 17%, in France and Norway.

The study also revealed that American men have the highest rate of avoidable deaths – or deaths before 75 years old – having 337 avoidable deaths every 100,000 males. This is followed by the U.K., having 233 avoidable deaths per 100,000 males, while Switzerland had the lowest rate at only 156 avoidable deaths per 100,000.

According to the study, lifestyle and income play a significant role in these health outcomes. For example, adults with lower income have higher rates of smoking and alcohol abuse, which are behaviors that directly contribute to higher rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening conditions at an early age.

In the U.S., lower income is also linked to a higher likelihood of multiple chronic conditions and four times great likelihood of being in fair or poor health.

“And on nearly every health care measure we studied, men in the U.S. with income insecurity fared the worst,” the report stated. Meanwhile, its analysis “dramatizes the failings of the U.S. health care system with respect to men.”