On behalf of a UK-based medical website MedExpress, a new study has emerged that reveals that more than half of Britons avoid going to the doctors because they are embarrassed to take off their clothes or share intimate details to their doctor or nurse.
Almost three quarters of respondents admitted they've avoided booking a GP appointment in the past when a problem appeared that required medical treatment.
They polled a total of 2,127 UK-based adults, aged 18-65 and each participant stated to researchers that they had no long-term or serious medical problems and they were asked a series of questions about going to the doctors when a problem occurs.
Respondents were initially asked to reveal the last time they had visited their local doctor's surgery for an appointment with a nurse of their GP, with the average length of time emerging as 8 months. When then asked to reveal how long they'd had to wait for an appointment the last time they visited the surgery, the average answer emerged as 9 days.
Participants were then given a list of possible answers and asked to choose the main reason behind why they refused to book an appointment as soon as a medical problem emerged, with the top 5 answers revealed as follows:
Half of Brits are avoiding the doctor's due to 'embarassment'
- I was too embarrassed to take my clothes off/share intimate details with a doctor - 51 %.
- I found it too difficult to book an appointment at a time that fits my schedule - 21%.
- I thought the problem would eventually go away by itself - 9%.
- The problem wasn't affecting my life enough to bother visiting the doctor - 7%.
- I didn't want to waste the doctor's time when other people need his/her help more - 4%.
Of those who revealed that they had previously been too embarrassed to book an appointment at the doctors, the majority (48%) revealed that the health issue in question had been related to their sexual health, with a further 24% admitting it had been connected with their digestive health.
A spokeperson from MedExpress.co.uk made the following comments on the findings of the study "It's a shock how many people are still embarrassed about such matters as sexual and digestive health. These topics should no longer be a taboo and should instead be something we are more open and honest about as a society. Sometimes keeping a problem in and refusing to have it checked can make a situation worse."
He continued "Intimate body parts need to be treated with the same urgency as any other body part and embarrassment should not be a factor in this. Though the doctors not being able to fit in appointments is a huge problem and something we hear about all the time, if you feel concerned that your body has changed or you notice something drastically different, be sure to book the next available appointment at your local surgery."