Changes in Life Expectancy Between 2019 and 2020 in the US and 21 Peer Countries

Woolf, Steven H.; Masters, Ryan K.; Aron, Laudan

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.7067

Cited by 53 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Even in affluent societies, flourishing is not an equally distributed asset, which raises many urgent research questions about the structural impediments to flourishing [ 157 , 158 ]. It is also likely that diminished flourishing and increased languishing is contributing to the recent declines in life expectancy in the United States (and to a lesser extent, other countries), especially in socioeconomically marginalized groups [ 159 , 160 , 161 ]. Despite the identification of many biopsychosocial determinants of disease and life expectancy, these problems endure in the absence of policy interventions [ 162 ].…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitality Revisited: The Evolving Concept of Flourishing and Its Relevance to Personal and Public Health

Logan¹,

Berman

Prescott

2023

IJERPH

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Human flourishing, the state of optimal functioning and well-being across all aspects of an individual’s life, has been a topic of philosophical and theological discussion for centuries. In the mid-20th century, social psychologists and health scientists began exploring the concept of flourishing in the context of health and high-level wellness. However, it is only in recent years, in part due to the USD 43 million Global Flourishing Study including 22 countries that flourishing has entered the mainstream discourse. Here, we explore this history and the rapid acceleration of research into human flourishing, defined as “the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good” by the Harvard University’s Flourishing Program. We also explore the construct of “vitality”, which refers to a sense of aliveness, energy, and motivation; we contend that this has been neglected in the flourishing movement. We explore why incorporating measures of vitality together with a broader biopsychosocial approach considers all dimensions of the environment across time (the total exposome), which will greatly advance research, policies, and actions to achieve human flourishing.

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Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitality Revisited: The Evolving Concept of Flourishing and Its Relevance to Personal and Public Health

Logan¹,

Berman

Prescott

2023

IJERPH

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“…The proportion of all US deaths that were “excess deaths” in 2021 is now exceeding the fraction of US deaths at ages 50 and over that were attributable to smoking in 2003 (24%), 18 and approaching the fraction of adult deaths (ages 20-64) attributable to alcohol in Russia in 2002 (29%), 19 some of the most severe recent public health crises in high-income countries. The dramatic surge in excess mortality in the United States during the pandemic is, in Eileen Crimmins’ words, “an acute demonstration of our chronic problem.” 20 Both these international differences and the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on minority populations in the United States 21,,22 highlight social conditions as fundamental causes of diseases and deaths. 23…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Another doubling of excess mortality in the United States relative to its European peers between 2017 and 2021

Heuveline

2022

Preprint

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Importance Previous studies have shown the pre-pandemic emergence of a gap in mortality between the United States and other high-income nations. This gap was estimated to account for nearly one in seven US deaths in 2017. Objective The number and proportion of US deaths that can be attributed to this gap is expected to have grown during the pandemic. This study aims at quantifying this growth at the end of 2021. Design This cross-sectional study uses publicly available 2017 to 2021 data on deaths from all causes and 2020-2021 Covid-19 death counts in the United States and five European countries. Number of deaths are combined with publicly available estimates of population size by sex and age group in these European countries to produce sex- and age-specific mortality rates. These rates are averaged and applied to the US population by sex and age-group to compare the resulting and actual US death counts. Setting The United States and the five most populous countries in Western Europe. Participants All deceased individuals in these countries are included in the death counts. This study does not use individual records. Intervention None. Main Outcome and Measure Total number of US deaths and their counterfactuals when substituting average sex- and age-specific mortality rates for the European countries to those that prevailed in the United States. Results The counterfactuals reveal 711,109 to 747,783 excess deaths in the United States in 2021, amounting to 20.8% to 21.7% of all US deaths that year (3,426,249). Excess deaths increased by 320,436 to 331,477 between 2017 and 2021, 80.0% to 82.7% more than the 2017 estimate. A decomposition of the lower figure showed that population change contributed little to the 2017-2021 increase in excess deaths (33,545 additional deaths). Covid-19 mortality alone continue contributed 230,672 excess deaths in 2021, more than 2020, whereas other causes of deaths contributed 56,219 more excess deaths in 2021 than in 2017. Discussion The proportion of US deaths that would be avoided if the United States could achieve the mortality of its West European counterparts surged to more than one in five during the pandemic. The large and still growing contribution of Covid-19 to excess mortality in the United States is consistent with vaccination rates plateauing at lower levels than in European countries. The overall increase in mortality from other causes during the pandemic increasingly separates the United States from West European countries as well.

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“…15 Finally, cultural variables may have some explanatory power. Covid-19 hit disproportionately ethnic minorities, Blacks and Hispanics in particular ( Woolf et al, 2022 ), while the higher resilience of Hispanics in terms of mortality is a known fact in the epidemiological literature ( Fenelon (2013) , Hummer et al (2000) , among others). Moreover, a populist credo might have lowered the adherence of a non-negligible part of the population to the proposed measures of public health.…”

Section: Intergenerational Coresidence and Mortality From Covid-19 In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational coresidence and the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States

Pensieroso¹,

Sommacal

Spolverini

2023

Economics & Human Biology

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Changes in Life Expectancy Between 2019 and 2020 in the US and 21 Peer Countries

Abstract: This cross-sectional study examines death counts in the US and 21 peer countries between 2019 and 2020 to evaluate life expectancy disparities between the US and peer countries and racial disparities within the US.

Cited by 53 publications

References 26 publications

Vitality Revisited: The Evolving Concept of Flourishing and Its Relevance to Personal and Public Health

Vitality Revisited: The Evolving Concept of Flourishing and Its Relevance to Personal and Public Health

Another doubling of excess mortality in the United States relative to its European peers between 2017 and 2021

Intergenerational coresidence and the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States

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