Italians and illnesses: cancer is the most commonly feared, especially amongst the young

Rome 29 August 2008 - Each year, considering both public and private expenditures, approximately 125 euros is spent on healthcare in Italy. And this figure does not take account of the amounts spent on body care, fitness, sports and other areas all indirectly aimed at protecting Italians' health and warding off illness and disease.

This massive and growing investment shows just how keen Italian are to protect their health. Interestingly, this attention is coupled with a widespread fear of falling ill.

Specifically, what Italians fear most is not death, but the loss of autonomy. In other words, they are more afraid of the impact that an illness can have on their quality of life and independence rather than of a possible extreme outcome.

Cancer tops the list of the most dreaded pathologies (67.5% of those interviewed), with heart diseases coming in a distant second (23.9%), followed by brain diseases (21.8%), depression (11.4%) and vascular and circulatory diseases (10%) (tab. 1).

Young people showed themselves to be the category most frightened by the prospect of cancer, as almost 73% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 and almost 75% of 30-44 year olds picked it as the most feared health threat. On the other hand, a higher percentage of elderly people expressed their fears of heart diseases (indicated by more than 28% of those over 64) and of cardiovascular and circulatory diseases (indicated by 12.1% of the elderly).

Despite the unquestionable progress made in fighting cancer and the continuous rise in cancer survival rates, proving that cancer can be defeated, this disease still ranks as the number one health scare. However, it should be noted that for the majority of people who have either direct or indirect experience with cancer, initial fear is most commonly followed by a desire to react and fight back. This was indicated by 33.5% of those interviewed, and this percentage rose to 43% amongst university graduates (tab. 2).

This mixture of fear and a desire to fight back can be explained by people's conviction that achieving good health and fighting illnesses both depend not on fate or luck, but largely on the individual's personal responsibility, on a person's ability to make the right choices and look after his or her own health.

This is especially true when it comes to prevention. Thus, it is not by chance that 84% of Italians primarily blame bad habits and lifestyles for causing cardiovascular disease, whilst only 44.5% thought that hereditary factors were the main cause and just slightly more than 30% cited environmental conditions as the main culprit (tab. 3).

University graduates were most convinced of the role that personal responsibility plays in protecting one's health, as 89% cited a person's lifestyle and habits as having the greatest influence. At the same time, it should be noted that this percentage remained high even for those having a lower level of formal education.

Tab. 1 - Most feared illnesses and diseases in terms of impact on health and quality of

life, broken down by age (figures expressed as percentages)

The total does not equal 100 because more than one answer was possible

Tab. 2 - Opinions on the most common reactions to a diagnosis of cancer, based on experience and not based on experience (expressed as a percentage)

(*) Those interviewed have either had direct experience with cancer or indirect experience through family members and friends

The total does not equal 100 because more than one answer was possible

Tab. 3 - Opinion on the main causes of cardiovascular diseases, based on level of formal education (expressed as a percentage)

The total does not equal 100 because more than one answer was possible