When feeling ill, more Russians go to private medical centers now.
MOSCOW, May 6, 2019. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey describing how Russians take care of their health and what they do if they have problems.
Today every third Russian reports having good health (32%); every second Russian is satisfied with the state of health (53%). Fifteen percent of Russians assess their state of health in a negative way; this share is higher among women (21%) rather than men (8%). Over the last five years, the percentage has not changed much but it has declined dramatically compared to 2006 (from 24%).
Most of Russians say the main cause of their poor health is work and stress (33%), as well as lack of money for treatment or prevention of diseases (28%). At the same time, the importance of the latter problem has decreased considerably over the last two years (35% in 2017). Every fourth Russian (25%) thinks that age and lack of rest are the main reasons. The number of those who blame poor environment has declined a lot (from 32% in 2017 to 18% in 2019).
As four years ago, in case of problems with health, 46% of respondents go to free state medical clinics; a further one-third of respondents (33%) practice self-medication. Every sixth (15%) goes to private medical centers although two years ago only every tenth did so (11%). Other ways to tackle health issues is to do nothing or to use traditional medicine (4% and 1%, respectively).
VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on May 14, 2019. The survey involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
The 2006-2015 results are based on household surveys.
How would you assess your current state of health? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | |
Very good | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
Good | 27 | 24 | 24 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 30 | 29 | 29 |
Satisfactory | 45 | 49 | 49 | 43 | 44 | 42 | 49 | 49 | 53 |
Bad | 19 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 |
Very bad | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Don’t know | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
In your opinion, what are the main causes of your diseases/diseases of your relatives? (closed-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 |
Too much work, anxiety, too many problems | 60 | 53 | 53 | 49 | 52 | 43 | 47 | 35 | 33 |
Not enough money for disease prevention, for buying medicines, for treatment | 29 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 35 | 28 |
Age; not being able to have a rest or to get treatment for many years | 36 | 35 | 35 | 39 | 35 | 46 | 34 | 28 | 25 |
Poor environment; environmental pollution | 41 | 43 | 47 | 37 | 39 | 33 | 36 | 32 | 18 |
Diseases might have been inherited | 15 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 17 |
Bad habits; no sport activities | 11 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 16 |
Working in hazardous industry; living close to hazardous industrial sites | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 11 |
Poor nutrition | 13 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 10 |
Other | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
Don’t know | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
What do you usually do when you get ill? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | |
I go to free state medical clinics, hospitals | 52 | 50 | 51 | 55 | 51 | 55 | 46 | 46 | 46 |
Self-treatment | 37 | 35 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 32 | 38 | 35 | 33 |
I go to paid medical centers, hospitals | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 15 |
I do nothing | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
I go to traditional health practitioners; I prefer traditional medicine | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Don’t know | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Note:
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