American Men Have the Highest Rate of Preventable Death

A recent analysis of data from the Commonwealth Fund’s 2020 International Health Policy Survey and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that men in the United States had the highest rates of illness and death among high-income countries.  

The Commonwealth Fund brief highlights health inequities in the US, including lack of access to healthcare. The researchers begin the publication by saying, “the fact remains that the United States is the only high-income country that does not ensure all its residents have access to affordable healthcare.” 

Researchers looked at adult men’s perceptions of their country’s healthcare system. Among the 11 high-income countries analyzed, men from the US were the least likely to rate their country’s healthcare system as “good” or “very good,” at 37%.  

Comparatively, 88% of Swiss men rated their country’s healthcare system highly.  

Furthermore, American men had the highest avoidable death rate at 337 per 100,000 males. The next highest rate of deaths in the UK was over 100 deaths less than those in the US. Switzerland had the lowest rate of avoidable male deaths at 156 deaths per 100,000 males. 

In the publication, the researchers comment that “high rates of avoidable deaths, or deaths before age 75, which occur from conditions that can be prevented or treated, often indicate shortcomings in public health and care delivery systems.” 

In addition to having the highest rate of preventable male deaths, men in the US also have the highest rate of multiple chronic conditions at 29%, which is 12% greater than the rate for French men.  

Furthermore, US men of average and lower income are more likely to develop multiple chronic conditions than those with a higher income.  

The researchers also conducted multiple other analyses finding that the US fell short of most other countries in all other aspects except prostate cancer-related deaths.  

While acknowledging that patients’ limited willingness to see a doctor contributes, most of these shortcomings were attributed to a lack of healthcare accessibility.  

According to the CDC’s National Health Statistics Report published earlier this year, in 2020, 9.7% of Americans were uninsured. This amounts to 31.6 million people. The Commonwealth Fund publication states that approximately 16 million of those people are men.  

“Expanding access to affordable, comprehensive health coverage would be a first step toward reducing these disparities. Improvements also will require the combined efforts of physicians, health systems, insurers, and communities to promote preventive care and healthy behaviors, including through targeted education and outreach,” advised the researchers in the publications.