While Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai top the chart in conversations on infertility and contraception; Pune, Mumbai and Delhi discussed issues related to adolescent/behavioral psychology
As per the annual report released today by Lybrate, an online doctor consultation platform, the number of interactions on infertility and contraception saw a 290 per cent jump as compared to last year, followed by interactions on adolescent and behavioural psychology, which recorded a 265 per cent spike.
In Delhi, 23 per cent people consulted doctors for infertility and contraception, while 31 per cent reached out to them for issues related to adolescent/behavioral psychology. In Mumbai, 32 per cent people talked about infertility and contraception and 31 per cent consulted healthcare experts about adolescent/behavioral psychology. Kolkata and Ahmedabad had the highest number of queries around infertility and contraception with 36 per cent and 35 per cent people, respectively reaching out to doctors for the same. Pune (33 per cent) and Bangalore (24 per cent) also had a significant number of queries on adolescent/behavioral psychology. Diabetes too was a major topic of discussion with 33 per cent people in Bangalore, 32 per cent in Kolkata, 29 per cent in Hyderabad and Chennai and 26 per cent in Delhi and Ahmedabad consulting doctors on Lybrate for the same.
Lybrate released the report post analysis of around 80 million interactions, including booking of lab tests, that happened on the platform over a period of 12 months, starting January 1, this year.
The other health issues that witnessed a remarkable rise have been: Respiratory Issues (215 per cent), Diabetes & Hypertension (205 per cent), Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency (220 per cent ) and Fitness and Wellness (195 per cent ). While Tier I cities contributed to the growth of interactions on infertility and contraception, majority of interactions from Tier II cities led to a staggering growth in interactions in the sexual health category.
Also, following incidences of notorious Blue Whale challenge, Pradyuman murder case and child sexual abuse, parents actively began to seek counselling for themselves and their children. There has also been a rise in number of queries from across age groups around behavioral changes — dealing with frustration and anger, hypersensitivity, managing relationship issues, among others, apart from regular queries on managing stress and depression. The trend stands true for Tier II cities as well.
“The trend that people are getting concerned and aware about being psychologically healthy and are reaching out to healthcare experts is a positive development. It becomes all the more significant because parents and loved ones too are seeking help for their children and themselves to connect with each other better and fix any behavioral issue. We all ignore our psychological health, not understanding that it is key to our overall good health. Being psychologically healthy saves us from a gamut of lifestyle-triggered diseases that have become a major concern for people across age-groups as also healthcare infrastructure in the country,” said Saurabh Arora, Founder and CEO, Lybrate.
“For three years, we have been committedly collating data and churning out useful insights which can play a key role in devising healthcare strategies in accordance with the existing healthcare realities prevalent in the country.”
In Tier I cities, women in the age group of 18-24 have become proactive about consulting doctors online. This is on the back of gaining awareness about such platforms and their credibility. The growth though small in other age brackets in Tier I cities and across all age groups in Tier II and III cities is significant in terms of women taking charge of their health issues, the data shows. This highlights the need to consistently work on creating women-centric health programmes that they can access online. In Tier III cities, penetration of online platform is still low and calls for creating better infrastructure so that people there can avail opinions of quality doctors available online.
As per the data, in 2017 while people in North India consulted heavily about respiratory issues, the issue of severe air pollution made people elsewhere also to press panic buttons and consult doctors about the same. Interactions around respiratory issues particularly grew in the month of November in Delhi and Bengaluru. During the dengue and Chikungunya outbreak between July and September, maximum number of interactions with doctors happened in Bengaluru. People in Kolkata and Chennai also significantly interacted with doctors about Vitamin D and B12 deficiency, while those in Hyderabad sought advice on fitness and wellness too. In Mumbai, a significant number of interactions happened on hypertension and adolescent psychology.