Laboratory
Population Health
At a Glance
Projects
Publications
Team
Project
Why Does Health in the US Continue to Lag Behind?
Mikko Myrskylä, Neil Kishor Mehta (MPIDR / University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA)
Detailed Description
Health and mortality levels in the United States are low by international standards despite the nation’s robust economic and technological standing. In 2010, life expectancy at birth in the United States was, at 78.8 years, 1.0 year lower than the average of the 27 European Union countries. Between 2010 and 2019, the US shortfall doubled to 2.1 years – largely a product of stalling US life expectancy growth. Between 2014 and 2017, US life expectancy saw three consecutive year-over-year declines, a trend that was unique among high-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these pre-existing shortfalls. The US lag in life expectancy is evident for both women and men, and it is not attributable to the racial/ethnic diversity of the US population.
In this project, a multidisciplinary group of researchers provides an updated and wide-ranging treatment of the issue. Our publications in this project encompass studies of mortality, disability, and chronic disease. As a set, they focus on various stages of life, addressing proximal causes as well as those related to social and economic conditions, and they consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cardiometabolic health also plays a prominent role across the studies.
Our results provide a detailed account of the myriad ways in which health in the United States continues to lag behind. This account includes specific information on the contributions of age groups, causes of death, risk factors, and generational patterns. While details of the lag continue to be documented, the solutions remain elusive. Violence and drug overdoses, both important contributors to the lag, have both proximal and structural features that likely interact with each other in complex ways. The proximal features include the availability of firearms and prescribing regulations, while the structural features include economic and social factors. Cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors explain some of the lag, and may play a prominent role in recent trends. However, designing appropriate interventions remains challenging, and will require multilevel social and health care interventions.
Aging, Mortality and Longevity
Publications
Abrams, L. R.; Bramajo, O.; van Raalte, A. A.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 123:11, e2519356123–e2519356123. (2026)
Abrams, L. R.; Brower, N.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
American Journal of Epidemiology 194:8, 2261–2269. (2025)
Abrams, L. R.; Brower, N.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
American Journal of Epidemiology 194:8, 2261–2269. (2025)
Bramajo, O.; Mehta, N. K.; Myrskylä, M.:
The Gerontologist 65:11, 1–11. (2025)
Ebeling, M.; Peters, F.:
European Journal of Population 42:1, 1–22. (2025)
Abrams, L. R.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121:4, e2320028121–e2320028121. (2024)
Abrams, L. R.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 121:24, e2407918121–e2407918121. (2024)
Abrams, L. R.; Myrskylä, M.; Mehta, N. K.:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120:42, e2308360120–e2308360120. (2023)
Acosta, E.; Mehta, N. K.; Myrskylä, M.; Ebeling, M.:
Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77:Suppl. 2, S148–S157. (2022)
Mehta, N. K.; Myrskylä, M.:
Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77:Supplement_2, S113–S116. (2022)
Abrams, L. R.; Mehta, N. K.; Myrskylä, M.:
International Journal of Epidemiology 50:6, 1970–1978. (2021)