49% of Ukrainians began to care less about their health

Before the World Health Day, which is celebrated on April 7, the pharmaceutical company “Darnitsa” together with Gradus Research* conducted a study researching how concerned Ukrainians are about their health. The results are disappointing - 49% of Ukrainians began to care less about themselves since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Among the main reasons: high level of stress and anxiety, lack of funds and strength.

This trend is most characteristic of the 25-34 age group - 55% of respondents of this age declare that they have begun to pay less attention to health.

86% of Ukrainians claim that after the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into Ukraine, they often feel stressed, nervous and depressed. Women suffer the most from stress (88%), as well as the 55-60 age group (91%).

The main trends are as follows: Ukrainians began to do much less sports and follow a healthy diet, they have postponed scheduled examinations, and also reduced the use of vitamins, and instead began to drink sedatives.

55% of respondents say that their sleep duration has decreased, and in 75% the quality of their sleep has also worsened. Among the main problems are frequent awakenings in the middle of the night, annoying nightmares and absence of a feeling of being well-rested after sleep. Women and the age group of 45-60 sleep the worst.

It is interesting that for the audience of young people (18-24 years old) a bit different trends are true. Only 39% began to care less about their health, while 28% - on the contrary, pay more attention to it since the full-scale invasion. Among young people, fewer respondents declare that they feel constant depression and stress (78%). 21% have a sleep duration of more than 8 hours, while in general for all age groups only 9% can boast of such a long sleep. The quality of sleep worsened only in 48% of young people. So, here we can make a conclusion about a slightly higher stress resistance of young people compared to other layers of the population.

“It is expected that against the background of a full-scale invasion, Ukrainians began to pay less attention to their health. But now the question is what to do about it. Together with specialized doctors, we are creating general educational content for ordinary Ukrainians, using such platforms as an educational hub based on our website, social networks, the Telegram channel “Just about health”, as well as national mass media. We’re also taking care of new challenges, such as mental health, and therefore this spring we are launching a series of educational lectures for doctors with the participation of leading Ukrainian and foreign experts on mental health issues,” said Ihor Nykyforchyn, director of medical affairs of the pharmaceutical company “Darnitsa”.

*Gradus Research work was commissioned by Darnitsa pharmaceutical company, 1,005 interviews, women and men aged 18-60 living in cities with a population of 50K+, excluding Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, March 21-22, 2023 .