LOS ANGELES, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A new study found that some adults in the United States are more likely to receive an advanced form of life support known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) than those with severe respiratory illness, including women, those with public insurance, and people with fewer financial resources.

The research team supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that adults who received ECMO appeared to skew toward men, people with private health insurance, and those who came from areas with higher median incomes, the NIH said on Thursday.

The researchers reviewed health insurance data from more than 2 million adults with severe respiratory illness between 2016 and 2019, using the U.S. Nationwide Readmissions Database.

After conducting multiple analyses, the researchers found that men received ECMO more often than women, even if they had the same type of insurance and income level.

Men accounted for 64 percent of patients receiving ECMO, compared to 36 percent of women. In addition, men made up 55 percent of those who just received mechanical ventilation, compared to 45 percent of women, according to the study published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

ECMO helps patients with life-threatening illness or injury breathe by simulating the function of the heart and lungs, while giving those organs a chance to rest, according to the NIH.