A review by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine, reveals that about a third of people consciously avoid information about serious illnesses, especially if they fear being affected themselves. A central reason is a lack of trust in the health care system. The findings underline the challenges for early detection and prevention.

The analysis is based on 92 studies with a total of 564,497 participants from 25 countries, including Germany, and examines the phenomenon of information avoidance. This includes behaviors such as delaying visits to the doctor, avoiding medical tests, or ignoring educational materials. The results show that around 30 percent of respondents avoid medical information, especially in the case of serious illnesses. For incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s (41 percent) and Huntington’s disease (40 percent), avoidance is the highest, while for treatable diseases such as HIV (32 percent), cancer (29 percent) and diabetes (24 percent), it is lower but still significant.

The researchers identified several reasons for this behavior. The main factors include cognitive overload due to the complexity of serious illnesses, a low sense of self-efficacy, fear of stigmatization and a lack of trust in the health care system. Gender or ethnicity did not play a role. The study suggests that information avoidance is not irrational behavior, but is strongly influenced by the social and structural environment.

The results have far-reaching implications for health policy. They show that measures to increase trust in the health system are crucial to promote the willingness to engage with medical information. In addition, approaches that reduce cognitive overload and reduce fears of stigmatization could increase participation in prevention and early detection programs. The study thus provides important starting points for making health systems more effective and improving health care worldwide.

Original Paper:

Prevalence and predictors of medical information avoidance: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Annals of Behavioral Medicine | Oxford Academic

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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