Most of Russians still take care of their health without spending too much money; they prefer public hospitals and do sports at home.
MOSCOW, May 28, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning the following questions: how Russians take care of their health; whether they go to doctors; whether they do sports and watch their diet; whether Russians spend money on private medical centers and fitness clubs.
More than half of Russians visit doctors (58%) if they have problems with health; more than one-third of Russians practice self-treatment (36%).
The most common way to solve problems with health is to go to public hospital (51%) rather than to a private medical centre (7%).
Most of Russians try to keep themselves in a good shape: 52% of Russians do sports. Russians do not spend too much on physical training: they try to do exercises at home (47%) or go to fitness centers (12%) and sports clubs (9%). Nevertheless, fitness is more and more popular among Russians: only 9% of Russians visited fitness clubs in 2012.
Healthy food being one of the most important components of a healthy lifestyle is essential for most of Russians: 43% try to eat good food; 14% follow the diet recommended by the doctor (6%) or choose their own diet (8%). Over the recent year the share of Russians paying attention to the quality of food has increased: in 2012 the share of those who tried to eat good food was 35%.
Muscovites and St.Petersburgians spend more money on their health than any other resident of Russia. Almost every tenth report to be a patient of a private medical centre (9%); almost one-third (29%) go to fitness centers. Half of residents of Moscow and St.Petersburg try to eat healthy food (50%), compared with 35% of rural area residents.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on May 12-13, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 130 sampling points in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
What do you do when you get sick? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||||
2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | |
I go to free public hospital | 52 | 50 | 51 | 55 | 51 |
I try to cure myself | 37 | 35 | 33 | 33 | 36 |
I go to private clinic, hospital | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
I go to folk healers; folk medicine | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
I do nothing; I leave things to take their own course | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Hard to tell | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Do you do physical training or sports? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 |
Yes, regularly | 9 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
Yes, from time to time | 17 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
Very rarely | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
Never | 55 | 53 | 52 | 47 |
Hard to tell | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Where do you do sports? (close-ended question, one answer, % of those who do sports) | ||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 |
Sport clubs | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
Fitness centers | 10 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
On my own at the stadium, at the gym | 25 | 26 | 25 | 29 |
At home | 51 | 54 | 53 | 47 |
Hard to tell | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Do you watch your diet? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 |
Yes, I watch the diet recommended by my doctor | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Yes, I watch my own diet | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
Yes, I try to eat good food | 33 | 34 | 35 | 43 |
I eat what I want; I do not have problems with my health | 23 | 22 | 27 | 22 |
I do not have any opportunity to think of the quality food; I have no choice; I eat what I can | 29 | 28 | 19 | 20 |
Hard to tell | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!