Sex mortality differentials in São Paulo in 2005 and 2016: contribution of age groups and main causes of death

Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyze the sex mortality differential in the city of São Paulo, in 2005 and 2015, by analyzing the differential levels and patterns as well as the contribution of different age groups and the main causes of death. The calculated indicators were the differential in life expectancy at birth, the sex ratio between specific mortality rates and the contribution of age groups and causes of death to the differential. The results show that the greater gain of men in life expectancy at birth contributed to the reduction of 1.30 years in the differential between the two years studied. Moreover, despite the high sex ratios among youth-specific mortality rates, older people contributed most to explaining the female advantage in mortality. Finally, circulatory diseases, neoplasms and external causes were responsible for the major contributions to the differential. However, the analysis of the pattern of causes of death together with the age pattern shows that for the elderly, whose contribution is greater to the differential, circulatory diseases, neoplasms and respiratory diseases were more decisive in the formation of the differential.