SAIMSARA Journal

Machine Generated Science • ISSN 3054-3991

Female Gender and Life Expectancy: Systematic Review with ☸️SAIMSARA.

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Longevity

Issue 2, Volume 1, 2026

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• Last update: 2026-03-28 15:45:05
What is this paper about
This paper shows that women usually live longer than men, but that extra survival often comes with more years lived with disability, multimorbidity, and reduced independence rather than more healthy years. The full paper is worth reading because it shows where the female advantage remains strong, where it weakens, and which conditions and life circumstances most clearly explain the difference

DOI: 10.62487/saimsara8c3bca03

Abstract: To systematically review the scientific literature concerning female gender and life expectancy, identifying key trends, influencing factors, and associated health outcomes across diverse global populations and clinical conditions. The review utilises 771 original studies with 16636946 total participants (ΣN). This systematic review indicates that female gender is generally associated with a higher overall life expectancy, with reported sex gaps at birth often ranging from approximately 3.9 to 7.6 years. However, this longevity advantage frequently coexists with a morbidity burden consistent with the female health paradox, with women often spending more years living with multimorbidity, disability, or reduced independence despite longer total survival. The evidence also suggests that this female advantage is not uniform across conditions, as selected cardiometabolic, cardiovascular, HIV, and neurodevelopmental contexts showed narrower gaps or signals of excess female mortality or life-expectancy loss. These findings support sex-responsive prevention and care strategies aimed not only at extending lifespan but also at preserving healthy and independent years. Future research should prioritize harmonized definitions of healthy life expectancy and clarify the biological, clinical, and social mechanisms underlying situations in which the usual female survival advantage is reduced or reversed.

Keywords: Life expectancy; Gender differences; Mortality risk; Healthy life expectancy; Sex disparities; Longevity; Chronic disease burden; Disability-free life expectancy; Social determinants of health; Multimorbidity

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