Russians have high self-esteem in health

A typical Russian patient assesses his health satisfactorily or well, is not inclined towards prevention and early diagnosis, and in case of illness, first resorts to self-medication. He treats medical recommendations with some distrust and reads reviews about doctors or clinics on the Internet. Experts from the social design center “Platform” and the company “OnIn” came to these conclusions after interviewing 1.2 thousand respondents. Russians generally tend to give high ratings to the state of their health, despite the feeling of discomfort and pain, doctors note. This increases the risk of delays in seeking medical care and the burden on the healthcare system.

The Center for Social Design “Platform” and the online research company “OnIn” (“Online Interviewer”) presented a report on the strategy of Russians in choosing treatment. The all-Russian online survey took place in November 2023. 1.2 thousand Russians over 18 years old took part in it.

9% of respondents rate their health as excellent, 33% as good, 50% as satisfactory. 7% call their condition poor and only 1% call it very bad. Positive assessments are preferred by men and young people, negative assessments by women, older people and people with incomes below average. The authors of the study indicate that financial situation has an expected impact on perceptions of health: critical assessments are more common among respondents with incomes below average.

Most Russians tend to undergo treatment only as needed (73%), and only a quarter engage in prevention and early diagnosis (25%). The share of those who more often take care of their health in the early stages includes women and young people (18–24 years old). This is most often neglected by middle-aged people (45–54 years old).

The majority of Russians (76%) prefer a self-medication strategy. This motivation is based on low satisfaction with medical services, high workloads, “trust in unverified information,” as well as “the transfer of the consultant function to a pharmacy worker,” the report says. Only 18% of respondents would consult a doctor immediately if symptoms occur. 4% will not take any action at all to recover.

Russians view doctors’ prescriptions with some suspicion: 46% are looking for additional information, 11% prefer to contact several specialists to compare different positions, and only 36% completely follow the recommendations after an appointment. CEO of the Doctis telemedicine service Sergei Lezhnin says that for minor illnesses, such as colds, a second opinion is not required, but for severe and rare diseases this is “common practice.” According to Mr. Lezhnin, in such cases, people often look for a doctor based on a recommendation. The study confirms: the main resource for choosing specialists is social connections; 31% of respondents rely on recommendations from friends. Most often they determine the choice of doctor in the Caucasus (44%). For 13% of respondents who resort to independent searches, reviews of doctors on various services turn out to be the decisive factor, and the overall rating of the clinic plays virtually no role – 6%.

The majority of Russians (86%) prefer traditional treatment. Only 8% choose non-traditional methods and homeopathic medicines.

The founder of the Platform, sociologist Alexey Firsov, says that people in Russia do not like to receive bad news, “and going to the doctor is always a risk of receiving just such bad news, so some people will postpone this event as much as possible.” In addition, Mr. Firsov notes, in Russian reality there is a low index of trust in official institutions, so the average patient is more likely to listen to an article on the Internet than to the words of a health worker. “It makes people more fussy. They really begin to look for more information and get hooked on some miracle recipes. In general, faith in miracles increases,” he says.

Olga Goldman, director of the psychological assistance service for cancer patients at Clear Morning, believes that the high assessment of one’s own health, which was demonstrated by the survey, is not related to its actual condition, it is “just a sense of self.” “In our study on psychology in oncology, we asked what changes in health would make people consider visiting an oncologist. As many as 9% responded that nothing would force them to do this,” comments Ms. Goldman. Her words are confirmed by the “National Public Health Monitoring”, which was prepared at the end of 2022 by the Interdisciplinary Center for Public Health Research at Sechenov University. It showed that Russians tend to rate their health highly, despite feelings of discomfort and pain. Thus, 83% of Russians rated their overall health as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent.” However, when respondents were asked to rate their health in more detail, it turned out that only 30% had no problems in any of six basic life functions: vision, hearing, walking and mobility, cognitive function, self-care, cognition and communication. Every second respondent noted some difficulties in at least one of the six areas of life, and every ninth spoke about serious functional limitations. Experts concluded that this has a significant impact on the quality of life of the population and increases the risk of delays in seeking medical help in the future.

“The big problem of our medicine is that we detect diseases late,” continues Olga Goldman. “It is much more difficult to catch cancer early, but it is much easier to cure it in the early stages. The same applies to cardiovascular diseases: our men drop dead before they reach the age of 60, because none of them is aware that it is necessary to actively prevent strokes and heart attacks.” Ms. Goldman emphasizes that it is more profitable and cheaper for the state to identify risks preventively, and for this it is necessary to have long-term plans for the health of the population and to popularize a careful attitude towards one’s health. “In our society, doctors and ordinary people have a relationship that leaves much to be desired—mutual distrust and dislike. Health care organizers need to work with this,” concludes Olga Goldman.

Natalia Kostarnova