How truthful are you with your doctor or medical provider? Statistics reflect that many people lie to their doctor. The following points are fascinating and something I have found to be true over the last 22 years of my practice.

• “I’ve done everything you told me to do, and I still don’t feel any better.”  Recent surveys of patients revel that 39% of patients lie to their doctor about following doctors orders.
• “I don’t smoke, I rarely drink and I eat a really healthy diet.”  46% of patients lie to their doctor about these issues. 
• 43% of patients overstate their frequency of their exercise.
• 29% of patients lie about their sexual history.  Younger male doctors are more likely to be lied to.
• “I don’t take anything other than a multivitamin.” 21% of patients revealed that they frequently don’t reveal everything (supplements, herbs or other drugs) they are taking. 
• The most common liars statistically are women, younger people and those with poor health. 
• 33% of patients won’t tell their doctor they disagree with the treatment being prescribed. 

Besides not following doctor’s orders, the next most common lies involve alcohol consumption (24%), smoking (23%) and use of recreational drugs (22%).

The most common reason why patients lie has nothing to do with feelings of letting down their doctor or an attempt to scam drugs. It’s just simple embarrassment.

Exactly half of survey respondents who admitted lying to a doctor did so out of sheer embarrassment. This was considerably more than the next most common reason of “Too complicated or not worth it to explain,” which 30% of respondents gave as their reason for lying.

But my patients aren’t just lying to me or their doctor, they are lying to themselves. 70% of women and 65% of men report being confident that their doctor does not know when they lie. But there’s one problem for patients who are harboring the truth: lab results.

The panel of labs that I draw tells a very clear story about their diet and lifestyle over the last 3-6 months. Lab work doesn’t lie.

Lying to a doctor can also make it difficult for the physician to make a correct diagnosis.

Misinformation or omission will often cause the physician to search for unrelated disease states or conditions. Being honest with your doctor reduces the time lag from the time of patient presentation to the time he or she can make the correct diagnosis. Honesty also increases the timeliness of obtaining the correct diagnosis and subsequent accurate treatment.

Given the dangers of lying to a doctor, one finding from these results stood out as troubling: 58% of patients who lied to their doctor didn’t believe their lie affected the quality of care they received or the outcome of their appointment.

Any healthy relationship is built on trust, and the doctor-patient dynamic should be no different.

If you see a doctor regularly you’ll create a relationship and an environment where you can be honest. Very few doctors will try to shame you because you’re doing something wrong. If they do, you need to find a new doctor.

If you’re not able to exercise because you’re working two jobs and you’re a caregiver to your mother with Alzheimer’s, I’m not going to shame you for not exercising. I’m not going to criticize you for eating ice cream nightly to cope with the stress. However, tell me these things that so we can find ways for you to successfully reach your health goals in light of the challenges you face and find an effective game plan. Two heads are always better than one.