Up to 80% of people LIE to their doctor 'because they don't want to be judged or lectured'

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Nobody's perfect - but none of us want our doctor to realize that. 

Between 60 and 80 percent of us lie to our doctor about how often we exercise, how much we drink, what we eat, whether we smoke or do drugs - and anything else that may make us look bad. 

What's more, a third of us don't speak up when we don't understand or agree with something our doctor recommends.

That's according to a new study by researchers at the University of Utah Health, who surveyed more than 4,500 Americans about what they disclose to doctors. 

Overwhelmingly, the main reason for lying was because they cared about their doctor's opinion, and they couldn't be bothered to sit through a lecture.

A new study found we all care a lot about our doctors' opinion of us

'Most people want their doctor to think highly of them,' Dr Angela Fagerlin, chair of population health sciences at U of U Health and the study's senior author, explains.

'They're worried about being pigeonholed as someone who doesn't make good decisions,' she adds. 

The study, published today in JAMA, touches on something which we all know to be true - but Dr Fagerlin warns it is a real concern that needs to be addressed in the US healthcare system (and, likely, beyond) as drugs and poor diet claim more and more lives.

Working with colleagues at the universities of Iowa and Michigan, her team sought to look at a broad swathe of the population. They used two surveys - one with an average age of 36, and one with an average age of 61.   

They asked them if they'd ever kept quiet about:

1. not understanding the doctor's instructions

2. disagreeing with a recommendation

3. the fact that they don't exercise, or at least not regularly

4. how unhealthy their diet was

5. a certain medication they had taken

6. that they did not take their prescription medication as instructed

7. that they took someone else's prescription medication

Most admitted to withholding at least one medically relevant detail about themselves.

Very often, it was either of little importance, or nothing to be ashamed about.  

But it seemed pride overrode.  

'I'm surprised that such a substantial number of people chose to withhold relatively benign information, and that they would admit to it,' says the study's first author Andrea Gurmankin Levy, PhD, MBe, an associate professor in social sciences at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut. 

'We also have to consider the interesting limitation that survey participants might have withheld information about what they withheld, which would mean that our study has underestimated how prevalent this phenomenon is.'  

They warn that skipping details - even the most minor - simply means that their doctor won't be able to give them the best advice.  

'If patients are withholding information about what they're eating, or whether they are taking their medication, it can have significant implications for their health. Especially if they have a chronic illness,' Levy said.

However, they concede that, clearly, the issue should not solely lie on the shoulders of patients. 

Crucially, the study found those who were female, younger, with lower self-esteem were most likely to withhold information. 

Levy and Fagerlin suggest that perhaps staying with one doctor for years, to build up a bond, can ease that tension or fear. 

They plan to repeat the study and talk with patients immediately after clinical appointments, while the experience is still fresh in their minds. 

'How providers are communicating in certain situations may cause patients to be hesitant to open up,' she says. 'This raises the question, is there a way to train clinicians to help their patients feel more comfortable?'