VOLUME 18 (Supplement)

Analysis of the variation of age-specific life expectancies between sexes due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the National Capital Region, Philippines

The COVID-19 pandemic was among the most catastrophic crises in the 21st century worldwide. The pandemic resulted in numerous deaths worldwide and posed an overwhelming public health problem. The Philippines was not spared from the effects of the virus. By 2023, the WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer a global healthcare emergency. The country had at least 4,102,788 total cases and 66,453 total deaths. Given the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the most urbanized cities in the country, this study investigated the influence of COVID-19 mortality on the age-specific life expectancy between biological sexes in the National Capital Region (NCR). Using DOH’s COVID-19 Tracker Data Drop, 13,814 records of deaths in NCR from January 2020 to April 2023 were obtained. Through descriptive analysis, the demographic patterns of the recorded deaths showed that 13.6% of deaths in NCR belong to the 70-74 age group, and 57.5% of deaths were males. Life table analysis revealed that COVID-19 deaths led to a drop in life expectancy to 62.6 years from the country’s life expectancy of 70.4 in 2019. Females had higher life expectancies (64.2 years) than males (61.5 years).