Fear of diagnosis? Many people don't want to know anything about their illnesses.

Around one-third of people avoid information about serious illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. This is shown by an analysis by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development . This includes, for example, delaying or even not attending doctor's appointments, avoiding medical tests or ignoring the results, and ignoring educational materials.

A research team analyzed data from 92 studies worldwide, involving a total of nearly 565,000 participants from 25 countries, including Germany. The studies covered, among others, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, HIV/AIDS, cancer, and diabetes.

The phenomenon of turning a blind eye, especially to serious illnesses, is by no means uncommon. Almost a third of study participants avoid medical information. The rate was highest for two incurable neurodegenerative diseases – the ignorance rate was 41 percent for Alzheimer's and 40 percent for Huntington's.

For serious but treatable illnesses such as HIV infection or cancer, the rate of those who suppress information about them fell to 32 and 29 percent, respectively. Avoidance behavior was lowest, at 24 percent, for diabetes, which is chronic but easily treatable.

Experts cite cognitive overload, for example, because cancer can be complex and stressful, as reasons for this behavior. Other factors include the feeling of not being able to take control of one's own health and the fear of stigmatization, for example, due to a positive HIV test. A lack of trust in the medical system and thus a lowered hope of receiving good treatment are also factors.

Gender or ethnicity, however, are not decisive. The study did not draw direct comparisons between individual countries. Therefore, it does not show whether behavior differs in Germany, for example, than in France or the USA.