In a survey produced by Odoxa for the Mutuelle Nationale des Hospitaliers (MNH) and published in partnership with Le Figaro and Santé France Inter, we learn that the state of health of the French deteriorated sharply during the months of November and December 2017.
17% of patients practiced self-medication
1,028 French people over the age of 18 as well as 1,288 hospital staff members were interviewed for this survey. In total, 32% of hospital staff were affected by winter pathologies compared to 20% of sick French people, i.e. 10 million people. These figures could be explained by the influenza epidemic, but not only, the first cause of disease being a cold. The flu-like state only comes in 7th position and is preceded by migraines, joint and muscle pain, dental and digestive problems and bronchitis.
Among all these sick French people, 60% went to the doctor and 11% waited for it to pass. Few people asked the pharmacist for advice or went to the emergency room. What is more worrying is the increase in self-medication with 17% of patients self-medicating without seeking advice. This practice can be risky leading to overdose or drug interactions. Paradoxically, far fewer people working in the hospital environment resorted to self-medication or waited for it to pass without doing anything. Cost level, the French have on average paid 81 euros for care between November and December. This corresponds to 11 euros more than in September.
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