UA Studio | Care crisis: 76% of women go to the doctor alone

A study carried out by the University of Alicante (UA) shows that up to 76% of women consult a doctor on their own, and that half of them also wait until they have severe symptoms to do so. The survey from which these data were obtained involved just over 1,500 women from all over Spain. It was commissioned by the pharmaceutical company Organon and carried out by Psyma Ibérica under the direction of UA Professor Maria Teresa Ruiz Cantero.

The fact of visiting a doctor alone is especially noticeable among women aged 36 to 65 years, whose share reaches 83%. As for the frequency of visits to medical centers, this is once a year for 58% of women, and 33% visit as needed. In addition, almost half of the women surveyed undergo medical examinations and examinations, that is, they take secondary prevention measures.

On the other hand, more than 80% of women surveyed choose a primary care center as their first point of contact for health problems, and 32% say they have private insurance. The study also shows that 67% of women must see more than one specialist to receive a diagnosis, and that 24% of women receive more than one diagnosis until the correct one is established.

In this sense, 68% of respondents believe that the state of their own health over the past year is good or very good, and only bad or very bad for 6% of respondents. These data do not depend on the presence or absence of the disease, since 57% of women surveyed claim that they are not sick and do not have health problems.

More common diseases

The presentation of these data took place this Wednesday at the headquarters of the City University of Alicante, in which Manuel Anxo Blanco, Executive Director of Institutional Relations, Access and Communications of Organon, also took part. During the presentation, Ruiz Cantero noted that the most common ailments among those surveyed were allergies, mental health, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and hypercholesterolemia, neurological diseases and diseases related to the female reproductive system. Eating disorders and gastrointestinal diseases are also mentioned.

Regarding these diseases, a researcher from the University of Alicante emphasized that the time required to seek help at the first symptoms was more than a year in 20–30% of cases.

According to the data, depression is the health problem that has the greatest impact on the quality of life of respondents – 8.2 out of 10. It is followed by the impact of migraine – 7.5 out of 10; allergies – 6.46 out of 10.

Quiet problem

The researcher noted that the impact of menstruation and menopause on daily life is often silently accepted by women. Thus, 52% of the total women surveyed claim to have periods, and varying percentages report symptoms such as fatigue, mood changes, heavy bleeding and painful periods. 36% usually take painkillers, although only 17% go to the doctor for menstrual pain.

Women in this group report the following symptoms as the most common: hot flashes and night sweats; changes in appearance (weight gain, increase in body hair); deterioration in sleep quality and loss of sexual activity. Only 12% say they are sad that the fertile stage is behind them.