[Men and health--new epidemiological data from Germany in a summary]

In epidemiological investigations men are often considered and used as the healthy control group. This article aims to provide a detailed overview about health in men.

Analyses of the indices of health (life expectancy; mortality; state of health) and health-related behaviour (drinking, smoking, and eating behaviour; use of the health system' services) were performed, using data of the German Health Board (1999) and of an health survey in commission of the state (1998) plus data from our own representative investigations of 1994 and 1996.

Men, in comparison to women, have a shorter life expectancy as well as a higher mortality rate when suffering from cardiac infarction, lung cancer, traffic accidents, or suicide. In consideration of health-related behaviour, men do smoke and drink more and more frequently than females. In addition, men call on the services of the health system to a lesser extent and deny psychological influences to their health. Effects of age and differences between East and West Germany were obtained.

The presented data can only be explained by a combination of biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives. According to these results, investigations of health-related data should focus more on the difference between men, on the gender-related role of men in different contexts and on the investigation of the sub-group of healthy men.