Men and health - an overview of new epidemiological data from Germany

Men and health - an overview of new epidemiological data from Germany Objectives: In epidemiological investigations men are often considered and used as the healthy control group. This article aims to provide a detailed overview about health in men. Methods: Analyses of the indices of health (l ife expectancy; mortality; state of health) and health-related behaviour (d rinking, smoking, and eating behaviour; use of the health system' services) were performed, using data of the German Health Board (1999) and of an hea lth survey in commission of the state (1998) plus data from our own represe ntative investigations of 1994 and 1996. Results: Men, in comparison to women, have a shorter life expectancy as wel l as a higher mortality rate when suffering from cardiac infarction, lung c ancer, traffic accidents, or suicide. In consideration of health-related be haviour, men do smoke and drink more and more frequently than females. in a ddition, men call on the services of the health system to a lesser extent a nd deny psychological influences to their health. Effects of age and differ ences between East and West Germany were obtained. Conclusions: The presented data can only be explained by a combination of b iological, psychological, and sociological perspectives. According to these results, investigations of health-related data should focus more on the di fference between men, on the gender-related role of men in different contex ts and on the investigation of the sub-group of healthy men.