Every third German chronically ill

Every third person in Germany feels chronically ill

04/11/2011

According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of the Techniker-Krankenkasse (TK), one in three German respondents feels chronically ill. Due to an existing or alleged chronic suffering, every third person is in (permanent) medical treatment.

During the Forsa survey, about one-third (37 percent) of respondents said they have a chronic illness and are therefore under continuous medical treatment. According to study results, many chronic patients live in East German Federal Territories. There, 48 percent of respondents said they have chronic conditions like diabetes or irritable stomach. In the federal states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin and Brandenburg, 40 percent said they suffer from at least one chronic disease. In the states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, the same reported 49 percent of respondents. In western Germany, on the other hand, only 35 percent said they have a chronic condition.

Unemployed people are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases
There was a difference not only between East and West, but also between working and unemployed. In Germany as a whole, 25 percent of the workforce suffers from chronic diseases. The unemployed say 50 percent, they are chroniclers. If the survey data from the East German areas are compared with the unemployment rate, it should be noted that the unemployment rate in the East is higher even after 22 years after reunification than in the West.

Being alone makes you sick
Differences in results also occurred in the age structures and life situations. Younger people between the ages of 20 and 30 suffer 25 percent of permanent suffering. Those who live alone, moreover, according to study results suffer more frequently from long-term illnesses. 45 percent of the singles said they were chronically ill. People living in four-person households suffer from a chronic illness in only 23 percent of cases.

Chronic diseases are conditions that result from an event in which an ongoing degenerative process or disability occurs. If patients can not recover and the cause can not be eliminated, the condition becomes chronically chronic. The chronic diseases include, for example, gout, coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, rheumatism, Chron's disease or dementia. According to official estimates, 1.2 million people in Germany alone suffer from Alzheimer's and about 50 percent will suffer heart disease once in their lives and die from it. According to experts, 25 percent of people will contract a malignant tumor. For the representative survey of the Techniker Krankenkasse about 1000 people of different sexes and ages were interviewed throughout Germany. (Sb)