Scientists have discovered the most ignored diseases. Two incurable diseases in the first places

“Medical information is more accessible than ever, but many people choose to avoid them,” wrote scientists in their work, one who analyzed almost 100 studies and over half a million subjects. “I found that almost 1 in 3 people avoid or is predisposed to avoid medical information,” says Gizmodo researchers.

In the metastuda recently published in the magazine of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, the researchers analyzed data from 92 separate studies that involved 564,497 participants from 25 countries. Despite the fact that a successful treatment often depends on the early detection, the results indicate that many people are reluctant to get involved in preventive care or medical checks.

The researchers believe that their results, the premiums of this kind as part of a large global study can have significant implications for health policies.

Rate of refusal over 40% for Alzheimer's

People are most likely to avoid information on incurable neurodegenerative diseases: 41% in Alzheimer's and 40% for Huntington. Huntington is a progressive hereditary neurodegenerative disease, characterized by dementia, cognitive decline and defective coordination of the muscles, which eventually leads to uncontrollable spasms. The disease is largely genetically transmitted and the first symptoms appear after the age of 30.

The percentage has decreased slightly in the case of serious, but treatable diseases, such as HIV (32%) and cancer (29%), and the lowest was for chronic but manageable conditions, such as diabetes – 24%.

The researchers described the avoidance of medical information as “any behavior designed to prevent or postpone obtaining available, but potentially unwanted information”, such as postponement or lack of presentation to medical consultations and refusal of medical tests.

“One possibility is that the choice not to know is a deliberate one,” said Ralph Hertwig, co-author and director of the Center for Adaptive Rationality within the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, in a statement from the Institute. “We have investigated this phenomenon – which we call deliberate ignorance – and in other areas of life and we have found that there is a wide variety of reasons for him.”

Why do people avoid health information?

The team identified 16 key factors that predict this avoidance. Interestingly, they did not include sex, ethnicity or race. The most important predictive factors were the feeling of overwhelming, the low confidence in the ability to manage their own health, the fear of being judged and the lack of confidence in the medical system.

“Avoidance models have varied between different regions of the world, suggesting that the differences between health systems can influence behaviors,” the researchers explained, adding that they have not investigated how the avoidance of medical information affects the health of the patients.

“It takes more research to understand the psychological and medical consequences of avoiding medical information.”

In fact, the team emphasizes that their research does not judge whether avoiding medical information is positive or negative – it shows that this behavior is frequent and not always irrational. Moreover, the identified predictive factors highlight possible areas for public policy interventions.

For example, “our findings suggest that a lower confidence is associated with a higher avoidance of information,” said Konstantin Offer, the main author of the study and doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for human development.

“Restoring confidence in the medical system could therefore lead to greater involvement in accessing medical information,” he stressed.

Photo article: Felipe Caparros Cruz / Dreamstime.com.