A survey conducted by Minha Vida with more than 1000 people reveals that women suffer more from fatigue than their male counterparts.
More than 50% of men said that stress is something normal and a part of life, and 10% also said that they have never felt stress. Among women, the statistics are quite different, with 57% of them pointing that it is something that makes them very bad and only 1% said they never felt it. This is what the survey “Webedia Life – Insights” reveals, which was conducted by the website Minha Vida and released on the World Health Day (April 7).
Women also suffer more from fatigue. Most men (65%) indicated that they felt that the hours of sleep were enough and that they usually wake up rested. On the other hand, women (51%) indicate that they would like to sleep more when they wake up. The survey was carried out online between December 2021 and January 2022 with over a thousand visitors of Minha Vida. About the respondents’ profile, 74% of the public is female, 25% is between 55 and 64 years old, 25% between 45 and 54 years old, and 20% between 35 and 44 years old.
Pandemic and new habits
The pandemic brought new habits and reinforced health behaviors according to the respondents. Washing hands regularly was the top answer on what respondents said they do for better health and well-being. The habit has appeared as the first choice since 2017, when it was included as a response alternative in the questionnaire, but the pandemic period has increased the amount – from 60% in 2018 to 85% in 2021. Moreover, it is a concern that changes considering the age of the respondents: those over 65 are the most attentive (94%) and the youngest, 18 to 34, the least concerned (70%).
Aging in good health (83%), having more disposition (74%) and getting or staying in shape (56%) were the most voted as motivation to take care of health and well-being. Considering the gender clipping, for men (50%) it is more important than for women (30%) to maintain an active sex life in order to have better health and well-being. Still on habits, women (44%) use more sunblock for health purposes than men (9%).
Another trend where changes were observed with the pandemic was the purchase of medicines over the internet. If in 2019 only 29% of respondents had this habit, in 2021 the number jumps to 41%.
World Health Day
The World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7th since 1950, when the World Health Organization established the date to work on serious health-related issues. Aiming to raise awareness about quality of life and the different factors that affect health, Minha Vida chose the date to release the results of its annual audience survey, as told by Fernanda Benício, general director of Webedia Life. “For 16 years we have had the mission of informing and inspiring people to live longer and better, and we saw in the World Health Day another opportunity to act in this sense. The research insights are very interesting for the general public and also for us to continue producing content in an in-depth, empathetic and credible way.
Fake news and internet searches on the topic
More than 90% of those interviewed indicated that they believe there is a lot of false information about health and well-being on the Internet. To escape from fake news, 73% look for information on specialized sites on the theme, such as Minha Vida. Women (58%) research much more about symptoms on the internet than men (43%).
Searches are also part of the medical consultation moment for 78% of the respondents that, before or after going to the doctor’s office, look for health information on the Internet. More than 45% have self-diagnosed a health condition online, and 31% have self-medicated after finding information online.
Health conditions
While men indicated that they consulted the cardiologist (53%), dentist (53%), and ophthalmologist (50%) the most in the last 12 months, the top professionals among women were gynecologist (66%), dentist (52%), and general practitioner (49%). Among the health conditions, anxiety was the most frequently mentioned by both men and women. Men completed the ranking with high blood pressure (30%) and back pain (27%), and women also with back pain (35%) and stress (32%).
Another interesting fact is that the incidence of anxiety changes a lot if we consider the age of the respondents. The millenials – 25 to 34 years old – are the most anxious (58%) in parallel with the over-65s (28%), who say they suffer the least from the issue.
