Which do you think is correct?
1. a 55-year-old male
2. a 55-year-old man
According to the AMA Manual of Style, male should not be used as a noun when referring to humans. Male and female adults (age 18 and over) should be referred to as men and women, respectively.
The correct answer is, therefore, ‘a 55-year-old man‘.
Note that native English speaking physicians do commonly refer to men and women as males and females, especially in daily conversation. When submitting a manuscript for publication, in particular to a top-level journal, however, make sure to use the correct terminology to refer to persons’ age and sex.
Note that male and female are appropriate for use as adjectives, so ‘male and female adults’ is perfectly fine. Male and female are also appropriate for use as nouns when referring to animals.
Check the AMA Manual of Style (Section 11.7 Age and Sex Referents) to find out how to refer to members of other age groups, such as a ’10-year-old boy‘ and a ’14-year-old adolescent girl‘. In this section you’ll also find out when, by exception, it is appropriate to refer to a group of people as males or females …