Overview

• The review pooled 92 studies with 564,497 participants across 25 countries and was released by the Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung.
• Avoidance was highest for incurable neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer at 41% and Huntington at 40%—and lower for HIV at 32%, cancer at 29% and diabetes at 24%.
• Behaviors counted as avoidance included postponing or skipping doctor visits, declining tests, disregarding results and ignoring educational materials.
• The team identified 16 psychological and social drivers, including cognitive overload, fear of stigma and mistrust of the medical system, while demographics such as sex or ethnicity were not decisive.
• The authors caution that widespread avoidance can undermine early detection and treatment decisions, and the analysis did not provide country-by-country comparisons.