The life expectancy of an American male fell by two years during the global health crisis, as indicated in a new study by the University of Oxford published on Monday. It discovered that the life expectancy of US men decreased by 2.2 years from 2019. It indicated the biggest fall among the groups evaluated.
The life expectancy of an American male fell by two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Pixabay)
Life expectancy diminished by over six months in contrast to 2019 for 22 of the 29 nations that went through assessment as a part of the study. The nations include Chile, the United States, and European countries. The decrease in 2020 was the biggest number observed since WWII transpired. The number decreased overall in 27 of the 29 nations evaluated.
Decrease Due to COVID-19
According to the university, the majority of life expectancy decreases throughout various nations could be associated with official COVID-19 fatalities. So far, there have been almost 5 million recorded fatalities resulting from the novel coronavirus. Dr. Ridhi Kashyap, co-lead author of the paper, stated, “The fact that our results highlight such a large impact that is directly attributable to COVID-19 shows how devastating a shock it has been for many countries.”
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Meanwhile, according to Dr Jose Manuel Aburto, another co-lead author of the study, “For western European countries such as Spain, England and Wales, Italy, Belgium, among others, the last time such large magnitudes of declines in life expectancy at birth were observed in a single year was during the second world war.”
Origin of the Data
The findings were collated in a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. This was following the evaluations for such nations for which official registrations of fatalities for 2020 had been published. Aburto remarked the scope of the life expectancy losses was sharp through most of those nations assessed.
Greater than Women
The diminishing in life expectancy was more prevalent for males than for females in the majority of nations evaluated. The statistic fell by over one year for males in 15 nations. Females witnessed an identical drop in 11 nations. The declines amid the COVID-19 outbreak have overturned the advances in mortality that had been carried out for 5.6 years. The increase in mortality in the United States was largely among working people and individuals aged less than 60.
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