92.3% of Indians do not trust the healthcare system in India

Mumbai: GOQii, one of the leading preventive healthcare platforms, unveiled its ‘GOQii India Fit’ 2018 report aimed at providing insights into the health and wellness habits of Indians. The report indicates the erosion of trust towards the various stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. It also throws light on the air quality, fitness levels and lifestyle diseases prevalent in the country and the cities most affected by these factors. The report draws insights from data amongst 2 lakh GOQii users across the country.

As per the GOQii India Fit 2018 report, 92.3% of citizens do not trust the healthcare system in India which includes doctors, hospitals, pharma, insurance companies and diagnostic labs. Hospitals lead the chart with 74% Indians not trusting them followed by pharma companies (62.8%), insurance companies (62.8), medical clinics (52.6%), doctors (50.6%) and diagnostic labs (46.1%). The key reason for the erosion of trust is largely due to a series of failure in the healthcare system, particularly the negligence by hospitals in the recent past. In addition, lack of transparency also came out as the single biggest impediment to the healthcare system in India.

The GOQii Indiafit Report 2018 is based on data collated over the last one year from 200,000 subscribers of GOQii both male and female from across India’s 8 fitness conscious cities namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.

The city-wise data shows that while people in Chennai and Hyderabad showed a slightly higher trust in the healthcare system as compared to others. People from Pune seem to have the least trust in the healthcare system.

On the subject of ‘Health Advice’, 46.2% said they don’t have a family doctor and 73% out of those said they go for second opinions to another doctor. Even out of the 53.8% who said they have a family Doctor, 68% of them said they go for second opinions to another doctor just to be safe.

Interestingly, Indians trust celebrities or public figures’ advice on health. Noted Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar topped the list as the most trusted celebrity or public figure for health advice followed closely by yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

Commenting on the report, Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO of GOQii said, “Indians are no longer silent or docile patients, but instead they are now well informed consumers keen to participate in the care process and demanding dignity and transparency from the healthcare providers. This shift will play a significant role in the evolution of healthcare system in the country.”

The report also highlights the changes that Indians would like to see in the healthcare system which include the transparency, cheaper healthcare facilities including medicines, quality treatment, price capping for hospital charges and
ombudsman for medical practice.

This year the GOQii India Fit report has added a new dimension to its analysis to include the quality of air, as Indians especially in the Delhi-NCR and Gurgaon region are increasingly breathing polluted air. The report indicates that the ‘Quality of Air’ is a major concern among people and rated it the lowest at 3.3. Quality of food got the highest rating followed by water, with a rating of 4.1 and 3.8 respectively. This indicates that most Indians feel the quality of air in their city is substandard.

The trend for Mumbai is similar with quality of food (4.1) being rated the highest followed by water (3.9) and air (3.1). Here the quality of air is slightly below the India average while the quality of water is slightly better. In Bengaluru, food leads at 4.1 followed by water (3.6) and air (3.1). Here air and water both are slightly below the India average.

As expected, Delhi-NCR has the lowest rating for air quality (1.8). Water is also rated comparatively lower at 3.3. Food leads at 3.9.

Although trailing behind food and water, compared to other major cities, Pune has the highest rating for quality of air (3.7). Food is highest at 4.0 followed by water at 3.9.

As compared to other cities, Hyderabad has the highest rating for food (4.3) followed by water (3.9) and air (3.3)

Chennai is the only city where water is rated lower than air at 3.4. Food leads at 4.1 and is followed by air at 3.7.

The GOQii India Fit report 2018 like the previous year has also taken into account the instance of lifestyle diseases, steps clocked, nutrition, sleep pattern and fitness activities. The new addition this year is BMI and based on all these parameters, Bengaluru tops the cahrt as the most healthy city in the country followed by Mumbai. Chennai is the most unhealthiest.

The average daily step count of an individual across India is 6126 steps, a drop from last year’s count of 7746 steps. However, the recommended daily step count by World Health Organization to lead a healthy lifestyle is 10,000 steps.

Mumbai has surpassed Bengaluru this year for the first rank with an average step count of 6488 steps. Chennai stays at the bottom of the list where step count is concerned. Despite having a predominantly younger population tracking steps in Chennai, the step count is low at 5605 steps daily average.

While Indians are striving to be fit, chronic lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension etc are a cause for concern. It is estimated that around 130 million may suffer from lifestyle diseases such as diabetes in the next few years. The disruptive lifestyle changes in the country due to rapidly evolving urban economy and Indian middle class have resulted in the increase in chronic dieseases.

In comparision to last year, there has been a rise in the number of lifestyle diseases among people. Diabetes has increased from 7.7% to 7.9%. Also, more Indians have high cholesterol this year increasing from 9.4 to 10.1%. With age as well people are more prone to lifestyle diseases. 23.8% people below the age of 45 have one or more diseases such as diabetes, cardiac problems including high cholesterol, blood pressure, thyroid and Cancer. Post 45 years this has doubled to 52.1%.

“Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of chronic diseases due to the disruptive lifestyle changes in the country. Lack of exercise, erratic eating habits, increase in stress levels and poor sleep patterns are just some of the key reasons behind the increase of this epidemic,” says Gondal.

Given the above background, GOQii Doctor’s online consultation has increased. The report indicates that we have been able to track different disorders and their progression across India. prior to the consultation appointment is scheduled, the doctor is aware of the patient’s history and medical conditions nad is current lifestyle. Patients even share their blood reports. With all this info, the consult with the patients becomes thorough which further promotes follow ups and new appointments.

One of the other major findings of the Indiafit report is consultation with doctor on ‘Sexual and mental Health’ is seeing a rise. Considering it’s an on call consultation users are finidng it comfortable to talk to the doctor on topics that they otherwise will not openly discuss.

Masturbation is one topic that not only young adults but also adult men who are wrapped around the guilt of it are consulting the doctor. Women still shy away from this category and only men seem to be either consulting for themselves or their wives. Surprisingly, there are many even in the older ages who still lack the basic sexual awareness.

There is also a steady rise in the number of teenagers going through depression and anxiety disorders and addressing such cases by the doctors has become the need of the hour.