Friday, December 5, 2025

New DAK Study: Germans’ Fear of Illnesses Remains High – Significant Gender Gap in Cancer Screening Behavior

Germans’ fear of severe illnesses remains consistently high in 2025. According to the latest representative survey conducted by the Forsa Institute on behalf of DAK-Gesundheit, cancer (69 percent) and Alzheimer’s or dementia (54 percent) continue to dominate the public’s health concerns. These findings confirm the trends of recent years, where these conditions already ranked at the top of perceived health threats.

Notably, many people actively aim to reduce their health risks: 84 percent report exercising regularly, 78 percent pay attention to healthy nutrition, and around three quarters consume little alcohol or abstain from smoking altogether. Despite this overall health-conscious lifestyle, there is a significant gender gap in the uptake of preventive medical check-ups.

While 77 percent of women attend cancer screenings regularly, only 49 percent of men do so. Women even show a slight increase compared to the previous year, whereas the participation rate among men has dropped marginally. DAK CEO Andreas Storm views this development with concern: declining health literacy results in insufficient use of essential preventive services. Those who do not understand the benefits of screenings are more likely to forgo them – potentially with serious consequences.

Mental health issues also play an increasingly prominent role in perceived health risks. On average, 31 percent of Germans fear depression or burnout. Among young people, however, this figure rises sharply: 47 percent of 14- to 29-year-olds express fear of mental illness, a pattern the DAK has also observed in previous years.

Despite these pervasive fears, most people still rate their personal health positively. Thirty-eight percent describe their health as very good, and another 49 percent as fairly good. Young adults in particular report high levels of well-being: 73 percent of those aged 14 to 29 classify their health as “very good.”

The annual DAK survey “Fear of Illnesses” has been conducted since 2010. For the 2025 edition, 1,000 people aged 14 and over were interviewed nationwide from 4 to 6 November 2025.