Nearly half of all patients feel unable to speak to their doctor about mental health and abuse, according to new research.
Researchers from University of Utah Health, Middlesex Community College, University of Michigan and University of Iowa looked at responses from over 4,500 people in two national online surveys from 2015.
Participants in one survey averaged 36 years old, while participants from the second had a median age of 61.
For the study, each of the participants were asked to review a list of medically relevant information, including depression, suicide, sexual and domestic abuse.
They were then told to indicate whether they had ever chosen to withhold this critical information from a medical professional and explain why.
The survey found that 40 to 47.5 per cent of participants chose not to tell their GP that they had experienced at least one of four the issues.
More than 70 per cent said the reason they chose to not share the information with a care provider was out of embarrassment or fear of being judged or lectured.
The study, published online in JAMA Network Open, also concluded that if the patient was young or a woman they were more likely to keep quiet about such issues.
Senior author Dr Angela Fagerlin said: “For primary care providers to help patients to achieve their best health, they need to know what the patient is struggling with.
”For example patients who withhold they have been sexually assaulted are potentially at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and sexually-transmitted diseases.
“Understanding how to make patients feel more comfortable with clinicians is key to helping patients address such life-threatening risks.”
The findings are reinforced by a number of studies in recent years which have highlighted how health care providers downplay or fail to take women's medical complaints seriously.
In 2003, a study by the University of Maryland found that both doctors and nurses prescribe less pain medication to women than men after surgery, even though women report more frequent and severe pain levels.
Similarly, in 2007, a study by University of Pennsylvania found that women waited 16 minutes longer than men to receive pain medication when they visited an emergency room.
For confidential support with mental health or suicidal feelings, you can contact The Samaritans on their free, 24-hour phone support by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org.
