Talking about men’s health
December 17, 2010
79% of Australian men admit to
having a medical condition,
according to the latest Pfizer Health
Report.
The survey looked at responses
from 1,256 men aged over 18 and
found that the most common
conditions occurring within the
Aussie male population include:
weight problems (36%), stress
(33%), hypertension (23%) high
cholesterol (23%), erectile
dysfunction (21%), depression
(20%), excessive consumption of
alcohol (15%), heart problems
(11%), diabetes (11%) and prostate
conditions (8%).
Health concerns that Aussie men
feel most comfortable discussing
with their GPs, according to
researchers, include hypertension,
high cholesterol and diabetes.
Despite this trend towards
relatively open discussions with
doctors, researchers did discover
that there are still some potentially
life threatening subjects that Aussie
men are uncomfortable talking
about with GPs.
These taboo subjects include
depression, with 13% of
respondents saying they were “not
comfortable” discussing mental
health issues.
“Stress and depression in
particular, are issues many men still
feel especially uncomfortable
discussing or seeking help for,” said
Barbara Hocking, Executive
Director of SANE Australia.
“Men unfortunately still feel there
is a stigma attached to these
conditions and this can prevent
them from talking to their GP,” she
added.
15% of of respondents also told
researchers that they were “not
comfortable” discussing prostate
and alcohol problems with doctors
and healthcare professionals.
In addition, whilst 85% of men
said that they would be prepared to
take medicine for erectile
dysfunction, only 44% said that they
would “definitely speak to their
doctor if they were experiencing
problems with sexual
performance”, with 63% citing
embarrassment as the key reason
behind their reluctance.
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