The FINANCIAL — As Canada heads into another winter season, Canadians need to be mindful of the winter blues, in addition to their seasonal flu shots and winter health precautions.
A survey by GfK on the most common health complaints revealed that one in four Canadians have experienced depression, anxiety or mental health issues in the past year. In Canadian women, that incidence is even higher, with almost one in three saying they have experienced a mental health issue in the past 12 months.
These are findings from an online survey that asked over 27,000 people in 22 countries which health conditions from a given list1 they had experienced in the last 12 months.
Cold, cough and flu top the list of most common ailments experienced by Canadians (48%), followed by muscle pain due to over exertion or injury. Almost one-third of Canadians also reported having issues with sleep deprivation; insomnia or sleeping problems ranked third among 13 ailments. Incidence was slightly higher for women, with over one in three experiencing problems sleeping, while only one in four men reporting the same.
A pattern of gender differences
For almost all the conditions listed in the survey, women have a higher likelihood of having experienced them in the last 12 months than men.
For example, while chronic back pain and heartburn rounded out the top five most common health complaints for men, with nearly one in four experiencing them in the past year, more women had reported experiencing these ailments at 29% for chronic back pain and 28% for heartburn.
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