• Chirk Jenn Ng, Chin Hai Teo, Christopher Chee Kong Ho, Wei Phin Tan, and Hui Meng Tan.
• Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. Electronic address: ngcj@um.edu.my.
• Prev Med. 2014 Oct 1; 67: 295-302.

ObjectivesThis study aims to compare health status and its risk factors between men and women who are from countries of different income status in Asia.MethodWe have included 47 Asian countries and 2 regions in this study. Life expectancy, mortality rate from communicable disease, non-communicable disease and injuries, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases risk factors and their trends were extracted from the WHO and respective governmental database. Subgroup analysis was performed based on country income groups.ResultsOverall, men have shorter life expectancy and higher mortality rates compared to women. Men from higher-income countries lived longer compared to men from lower-income countries. There is a wide variation of male life expectancy in upper and lower middle income countries. The mean systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and body mass index in Asia have also increased over the years.ConclusionThis study confirms that Asian men have poorer health compared to women besides the growing concerns on NCD risk factors. The findings from this study calls for a concerted effort to find solutions in addressing men's health problems in Asia.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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