Cause-specific gender differences in potential gains in life expectancy at birth in Japan, 1965-2010
METHODS: Data of PGLEs due to the elimination of eleven kinds of cause of death by gender, were obtained from Japanese official websites (e.g. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; National Institute of Population and Social Security Research). The study covered a period of 1965-2010. The PGLEs were measured using cause elimination life table technique. Gender differences in PGLE were calculated by PGLE in Male and in Female. Figures were displayed with Excel 2013.
RESULTS: Cancer, heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases had been the dominant causes of death since 1970s for both genders. PGLE in cancer increased till 1990s and then kept stable with about 4 years for male and 3 years for female. PGLE in cerebrovascular diseases decreased over the study period from 3 years to 1 year for both genders (Figure 1). Gender differences in PGLE in cancer kept increasing with a peak value of 1.17 years in 1996 and then fluctuated slightly remaining above the level of 0.9 years. Gender differences in PGLE in suicide increased from 0.06 years in 1965 to 0.42 years in 2010. However, gender differences in PGLE in accidents had decreased from 0.98 year to 0.22 year (Figure 2 & Figure 3).
CONCLUSIONS: The gender differences in PGLEs have provided an easy-to-grasp summary of the relative important causes of death. It also provides the potential benefits of intervention programs in future studies on the relative important priority causes in Japan, such as cancer and suicide.