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Americans Differ In Outlook, Protocol For Buying, Taking Drugs
More than a quarter of Americans say they have left a drug prescription unfilled because they felt it was unneeded and a fifth have obtained a second opinion because they felt their doctors' recommendations were too aggressive.
In all, 44% of Americans say they or an immediate family member have ignored a doctor's course of treatment or sought a second opinion because they felt the doctor's orders were unnecessary or overly aggressive, according to a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive health-care poll.
In addition to the 27% who have left a prescription unfilled and 20% who have sought a second opinion, 13% have avoided getting a diagnostic test, 7% have opted against a surgical procedure and 7% have changed doctors because they felt their doctor's recommended treatment was too aggressive. Respondents were presented with several scenarios and were able to select more than one that applied to them or a family member.
Among survey respondents who said they have chosen not to follow a doctor's recommendations, 89% said nothing negative happened as a result. Eleven percent reported some sort of negative effect, such as worsening health conditions and lost time from work.
The survey found 43% of Americans say they are concerned about receiving too many treatments or overly aggressive treatment when they are sick or in need of medical care. In a survey conducted two years ago, 50% said they felt that way.
About 52% of Americans believe doctors overtreat patients because of concerns about malpractice lawsuits, while 41% say doctors do so "to make more money" and 44% say "to meet patients' demands."
Still, Americans seem to believe that undertreatment is a problem, too. When asked how often they believe patients are undertreated, 29% said often and 55% said sometimes.
See full results of the poll:
"Based on what you know or have heard, how often do you think patients who have medical conditions experience problems because of…?"
Base: All adults
|
|
Often/
Sometimes (Net) |
Often |
Sometimes |
Rarely/
Never (Net) |
Rarely |
Never |
Being over-treated, for example, by getting too many treatments or by getting more aggressive treatment than is appropriate |
2005 |
72% |
22% |
50% |
28% |
22% |
6% |
2007 |
73 |
19 |
54 |
27 |
22 |
5 |
Being under-treated, for example by getting too few treatments or by getting less aggressive treatment than is appropriate |
2005 |
83 |
31 |
51 |
17 |
13 |
5 |
2007 |
83 |
29 |
55 |
17 |
14 |
3 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100 percent due to rounding.
* * *
"How concerned are you, personally, about receiving too many treatments or overly aggressive treatment when you are sick or in need of medical care?"
Base: All adults
|
2005 |
2007 |
Very/Somewhat Concerned (Net) |
50% |
43% |
Very concerned |
14 |
10 |
Somewhat concerned |
37 |
33 |
Not Very/At All Concerned (Net) |
50 |
57 |
Not very concerned |
36 |
44 |
Not at all concerned |
14 |
13 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.
* * *
"Which of the following, if any, have you ever done when your doctor recommended a particular course of treatment for you or an immediate family member? Please select all that apply."
Base: All adults
|
2005 |
2007 |
Did not fill a prescription that your doctor gave you because you felt it was unnecessary |
32% |
27% |
Got a second opinion from another doctor because you thought your doctor's recommendations were too aggressive |
21 |
20 |
Did not get a diagnostic test that your doctor recommended because you felt it was unnecessary |
16 |
13 |
Did not get a surgical procedure that your doctor recommended because you felt it was unnecessary |
10 |
7 |
Changed doctors because you felt that your doctor's approach was too aggressive |
9 |
7 |
None of these |
48 |
56 |
Note: Multiple-response question.
* * *
"What, if anything, happened to your or your family member as a result of choosing not to follow your doctor's recommendations? If you had more than one such experience, please answer for the most recent one. Please select all that apply."
Base: Respondents who chose to forgo recommended treatment
|
TOTAL |
Experienced a new medical problem or complication |
2% |
Required hospitalization |
2 |
Lost time from work or school |
4 |
Health got worse |
3 |
Had to go to the emergency room |
3 |
Some other type of problem |
3 |
Nothing negative happened as a result |
89 |
Note: Multiple-response question.
* * *
"Based on what you know or have heard, what do you think are the reasons that doctors sometimes over-treat patients, for example by providing too many treatments or overly aggressive treatments?"
Base: All adults
|
2005 |
2007 |
Because of concerns about malpractice lawsuits |
53% |
52% |
To make more money |
45 |
41 |
To meet patients' demands |
45 |
44 |
To make fast and easy decisions |
31 |
25 |
Because of misleading information they receive from prescription drug and medical device companies |
30 |
27 |
Because of a faulty medical diagnosis |
27 |
25 |
To give patients more reason to hope |
16 |
13 |
Other |
6 |
7 |
Don't know |
9 |
16 |
Note: Multiple-response question.
Methodology:
Harris Interactive conducted this online survey in the U.S., March 5-7, 2007, among a nationwide cross section of 2,673 adults. Figures for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to align with population proportions. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95% certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. This online sample is not a probability sample.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a world-wide market research and consulting firm, best known for The Harris Poll and its use of the Internet to conduct scientifically accurate market research. For more information, see www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a participant in The Harris Poll Online and join future online surveys, see www.harrispollonline.com
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