Changing sex differences in life expectancy in Australia between 1970 and 1990

"In this study we decompose the gender based survival difference [in Australia] in 1970, 1980 and 1990 into components that can be attributed to different causes of death. Our analysis indicates that a significant component of the constriction in the differential was due to males having made larger gains than females over time with respect to heart disease, accidents and violence excluding suicide, and lung cancer.... We discuss [the] findings in the context of emerging epidemiological trends in the industrialized world, and the implications these have for the future of the sex differential in survival."