Women Live Longer but Report Worse Health, Says National Institute of Health Research

Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute of Health announces results of women’s health statistics
Women’s health worse than men’s, prevalence of chronic diseases ↑

Although women tend to live longer than men on average, there are concerns that women’s health is worse, indicating a need for measures to manage women’s health.

Statistics show that despite living longer, women suffer from more illnesses than men. Photo from Yonhap NewsTV / Yonhap News

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s National Institute of Health Research announced the 5th Women’s Health Statistics results at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 24th.

The National Institute of Health Research has published a statistical book titled ‘Women’s Health in Numbers’ since 2014 to raise awareness and understanding of women’s health issues.

This report comprehensively analyzes various statistics on women’s life cycle health levels, chronic diseases, health behaviors, mental health, and sexual and reproductive health and presents trends over the past decade.

Women’s life expectancy is about 6 years longer than men’s, at 86.6 years, compared to men’s 80.6 years.

However, according to the National Health and Nutrition Survey results from 2019 to 2021, the percentage of women who rate their current health status as good is 30.9%, 6.1 percentage points lower than men’s 37.0%.

 

Professor Kim Yumi of Hanyang University’s College of Medicine, who announced the results, said, “Generally, it’s easy to think that people die earlier because they are unhealthy, but the ‘gender paradox’ phenomenon, where women live longer but are not healthy, consistently appears in various countries and societies.”

The causes are suggested as ▲chronic disease prevalence ▲influence of socio-economic status ▲societal structural causes ▲medical system usage rate and other socio-cultural contexts ▲gender difference in recovery resilience, etc.

In fact, after menopause, women often suffer from chronic diseases as their blood lipid concentration, which causes cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia, increases.

The prevalence of hypertension in women over 65 years old is 66.3%, which is higher than men’s 58.5%.

This year, the female elderly population is about 5.32 million, and it is estimated that about 3.53 million of them are patients with hypertension. The male population is about 2.44 million.

The high prevalence of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis is also a significant cause of increased disease burden in women.

The prevalence of osteoarthritis in older women is 46.4%, about three times that of older men. In particular, the prevalence of osteoarthritis increases significantly in old age, adversely affecting the physical activity and quality of life of older women.

The National Institute of Health Research emphasized, “It is important to prevent and manage risk factors for chronic diseases in young and middle-aged women to promote national health and reduce the burden of chronic diseases.”

 

The incidence of lung and pancreatic cancer, known to occur mainly in men, is also steadily increasing in women.

The incidence of lung cancer in women was 15.5 per 100,000 population based on the year 2000, but it increased to 19.3 in 2020.

During the same period, the incidence of pancreatic cancer in women increased from 4.9 per 100,000 population to 8.2.

The incidence of breast cancer also increased nearly threefold from 28.0 per 100,000 population during the same period to 77.1 in 2020.

Not only physical health but women’s mental health status also appeared to be worse than men’s.

According to the results of the National Nutrition Health Survey from 2019 to 2021, the stress recognition rate of adult women was 32.4%, which is higher than men’s 28.4%.

Depression was also higher in women at 6.7% compared to men at 4.8%. In 2020, when COVID-19 spread, the prevalence of depression in women aged 25-34 was exceptionally high at 11.9%.

The situation for female adolescents was even more severe. As of last year, the stress recognition rate of female adolescents was 47.0%, the experience rate of depression symptoms was 33.5%, and the rate of extreme choice thinking was 17.9%, all higher than male adolescents.

The National Institute of Health Research said, “In the past, the experience rate of depression symptoms in female adolescents increased as the grade increased, but in 2022, the experience rate of depression symptoms was high from middle school, showing an even distribution regardless of grade.”

Most women have also experienced abnormal menstrual symptoms.

76.4% of adolescents, 84.1% of adults, and 63.3% of middle-aged and older women have experienced dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome, abnormal uterine bleeding, etc.

Teenagers and adults who have experienced severe menstrual pain that interferes with school life or social activities were 42.4% and 48.9%, respectively.

In addition, about 60% of women in menopause are experiencing severe menopausal symptoms such as fatigue and discomfort in joints and muscles, indicating a need for active symptom management.

Park Hyun-young, director of the National Institute of Health Research, said, “Women’s health is directly linked to not only the woman herself but also the health issues of the family, society, and even the nation. Understanding women’s health issues properly can be an important starting point for promoting the health of our society.”