STADA Health Report 2023: Lack of prevention is shaking Europe's health

20.09.2023 13:44

Health prevention plays a crucial role in well-being and quality of life. However, 85 percent of Europeans do not go for check-ups often enough - a particularly worrying development given the trend to reduce health-related spending due to inflation.

But there is also good news: In the past year, 73 percent of Europeans paid more attention to themselves and their health, be it through a healthier diet or taking dietary supplements more frequently. Mental well-being has improved by ten percentage points across the continent compared to 2022.

These are findings from the fifth international STADA Health Report, a survey with around 32,000 respondents from 16 countries.

“The STADA Health Report is our special contribution to better healthcare through reliable and verified data and is directly related to our mission of Caring for People's Health as a Trusted Partner. The insights gained must serve as a wake-up call for improving preventive health initiatives, promoting self-care and modernizing health systems through digitalization,” says Peter Goldschmidt, CEO STADA Arzneimittel AG.

“The STADA Health Report contains extensive scientifically verified data obtained from a representative sample of 32,000 Europeans and provides stakeholders across the healthcare sector with actionable insights on important topics,” added Magali Geens, Managing Director EMEA at Human8, the market research company conducting the research. added.

“The STADA Health Report is our special contribution to better healthcare through reliable and verified data and is directly related to our mission of Caring for People's Health as a Trusted Partner. The insights gained must serve as a wake-up call for improving preventative health initiatives, promoting self-care and modernizing healthcare systems through digitalization,” said Stada CEO Peter Goldschmidt

Health prevention: opportunity missed?

Preventative examinations at the dentist, skin cancer screening, check-ups at the gynecologist: If you attend all kinds of doctor's appointments, you have a lot to do. But preventive appointments are worth it – and can save lives. Although these examinations are crucial for our health, the STADA Health Report 2023 shows that Europeans need to take the issue more seriously.

4 out of 10 Europeans (42 percent) do not attend any check-ups at all, and only 15 percent can say with certainty that they attend all the appointments that are relevant to them. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are the leaders - here 32 and 31 percent of those surveyed, respectively, attend all recommended preventative care appointments. In Serbia and Poland (62 percent each) and Romania (60 percent), however, there is an opposite trend: almost 2 out of 3 people in these countries do not attend any preventive examinations. Surprisingly, there are no significant age-related differences; Participation in preventive examinations increases slightly from the age of 44. However, there are differences between the sexes: European men (53 percent) are less likely to attend all or at least some preventive examinations than women (62 percent).

In fact, only one in ten men (10 percent) receive testicular cancer screening, while at least half of women (50 percent) receive breast cancer screening. Fortunately, more than two out of three women (68 percent) have gynecological examinations and almost half (46 percent) of men over 55 years of age have prostate examinations.

A lack of awareness and money make prevention difficult

But what is stopping Europeans from taking advantage of preventive medical check-ups? For most people, a lack of knowledge (32 percent) is the deciding factor. This applies not only to those who say they have no or some health knowledge (33 percent each), but also to those who say they have considerable health-related knowledge (28 percent). The costs of preventive health care are another main reason why one in four Europeans (23 percent) do not take part in all preventive examinations - in Romania (42 percent) and Serbia (38 percent) this is even the main reason. This is the case with many Europeans who are plagued by financial worries (31 percent) - but surprisingly also almost one in five Europeans (19 percent) who have no financial problems at all. Another 22 percent believe checkups are unnecessary, and 16 percent find it difficult to make time for them.

A light at the end of the tunnel – or not?

In recent years, one crisis seems to follow the next: we have just left COVID-19 behind us, now war, inflation and dissatisfaction with health systems follow. Today, only 61 percent of Europeans are generally satisfied with the healthcare system in their country. Overall satisfaction with healthcare systems in Europe is declining significantly for the third year in a row - a trend that needs to be further investigated and reversed. This is not just about improving healthcare, but also about motivating Europeans to take more responsibility for their own health.

Concerns about drug supply shortages

People in Europe are increasingly worried: 45 percent are afraid of wars and geopolitical conflicts. The tense supply situation for medicines is causing almost one in four people (24 percent) to worry about whether access to important medicines will still be guaranteed in the future.

Almost two in five Europeans (39 percent) see the problem of medication shortages as critical, including 18 percent who have experienced that they or relatives have had difficulty obtaining the medication they need. Bottlenecks in the supply of medicines are viewed as critical, particularly in Portugal (56 percent), the Czech Republic (53 percent) and Germany (50 percent). At the same time, the younger Europeans are, the more likely they are to forego spending on medication. This applies, for example, to 19 percent of 18 to 24 year olds, but only to 7 percent of Europeans over 70 years old.

While many Europeans fear a shortage of medicines, many are willing to use nutritional supplements to support a healthy lifestyle. More than a quarter (27 percent) of Europeans surveyed say they have taken more vitamins in the last 12 months, while a fifth (19 percent) have taken more medication and 16 percent have sought more advice from their pharmacist. Taking vitamin supplements was particularly popular among Serbians (52 percent), while 39 percent of French people said they had increasingly sought advice from their local pharmacy.

Two out of three Europeans (67 percent) are interested in having their vitamin status checked at their local pharmacy, including 77 percent of Italians and Serbs. However, when asked whether the pharmacy is a suitable place to carry out vaccinations, the 32,000 respondents do not entirely agree: for one in four Europeans (24 percent) this is a must, while a further 38 percent would be in favor of pharmacists carrying out vaccinations offer. The proportion of three fifths (61 percent) of those surveyed who are generally open to vaccination in the pharmacy is practically unchanged compared to last year.

Different views on vaccinations in the pharmacy

However, there are big differences in national attitudes towards this issue: for more than half of people in France (52 percent) as well as for a large proportion of adults in the United Kingdom (42 percent) and Italy (40 percent). Pharmacies must offer vaccinations. In Germany and Kazakhstan, however, it is only 9 percent, in Serbia 6 percent and in the Czech Republic only 4 percent.

Mental health on the rise

When it comes to discussing their fears and concerns, only 2 percent of Europeans say they would speak to their pharmacist, while 13 percent would consult their family doctor. There is also a certain reticence when it comes to partners, friends and family: less than half of Europeans confide in the people who are closest to them.

Our physical and mental well-being are inextricably linked. Today, 67 percent of Europeans rate their mental health as “good” or “very good,” and fewer than one in ten rate it as “poor.” In 2022, the values were significantly lower: only 57 percent rated their mental state as “good” or “very good”. Compared to women (62 percent), almost three out of four men (73 percent) rated their mental health as good. However, only 56 percent of Europeans who have financial problems rate their mental health as good.

About the STADA Health Report

Representative online study by Human8 on behalf of STADA.
Time frame of the investigation: March to April, in Uzbekistan July 2023.
Sample: Around 2,000 respondents each from Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom.