According to a new survey, every fourth person in Germany is afraid of going to hospital - more than in the worst times of the corona pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, when many operations were canceled or postponed, 17 and 19 percent respectively feared hospitalization, the KKH commercial health insurance fund said on Saturday in Hanover.

According to the Forsa survey commissioned by the KKH, women expressed hospital fears more frequently than men. Before the corona pandemic, however, 29 percent of those surveyed had concerns about inpatient stays.

From August 1st to 4th, the market research institute Forsa surveyed 1,002 people nationwide between the ages of 18 and 70 as a representative survey of their concerns about a possible hospital stay. 1002 people were interviewed in July 2019, 1001 in August 2020 and finally 1376 people in July 2021. According to its own statements, the KKH is one of the largest nationwide statutory health insurance companies with around 1.6 million insured persons.

KKH CEO: Reforms necessary

"During the corona pandemic, our health system has proven itself. The care of Covid sufferers has shown that the clinics are able to react flexibly and quickly and to work together," said KKH CEO Wolfgang Matz. Nevertheless, "reforms are more than necessary," he stressed. "Perhaps many patients are now aware of this."

According to the survey, almost every second concerned respondent (47 percent) justified their fears of going to the hospital with having heard bad things. After all, 46 percent have had bad experiences themselves. During the Corona years 2020 and 2021, on the other hand, only a third of the hospital fears went back to negative reports. "We absolutely have to take the fears and experiences of the patients seriously," said Matz.

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