Misalignment between global disease burden and research efforts through the lens of sex/gender

Misalignment between global disease burden and research efforts through the lens of sex/gender | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Misalignment between global disease burden and research efforts through the lens of sex/gender Carolin Lerchenmüller, Maximilian Bley, Leo Schmallenbach, Till Bärnighausen, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9539471/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Men lose more life years to premature mortality (years of life lost, YLL), whereas women live longer but spend more years in ill health (years lived with disability, YLD). Whether biomedical research reflects these differing burdens remains unclear. We linked more than eight million disease-specific publications from 2000 to 2023 to sex/gender-disaggregated Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data across 125 causes to examine research-burden alignment. Across regions and over time, research was 1.8x more aligned with YLL than YLD, disadvantaging women. This gap widened with sociodemographic development. If current trends continue, the global gap is projected to more than double by 2040 relative to 2000 levels, reflecting the growing contribution of disability to disease burden worldwide. Embedding sex/gender-disaggregated research–burden alignment indicators into funding priorities, evaluation frameworks, and national and global health agendas could drive more equitable healthy longevity for all. Health sciences/Health care/Health policy Scientific community and society/Scientific community/Research data Health sciences/Medical research/Epidemiology Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. M.J.L. is a co-founder and shareholder of AaviGen, a cardiovascular gene therapy company. The present study is not related to the company. The other authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files 20260427Supplement.pdf Supplemental Material 20260428nrreportingsummary17773663071.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9539471","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":632616157,"identity":"b11c7c9d-385f-4e45-a887-36992548f349","order_by":0,"name":"Carolin 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