Survey found 71% of chronically ill Canadian women do it more than once a year
Seventy-one percent of Canadian women living with a chronic condition retell their complete health history multiple times a year, and among Gen Z women with chronic illness that figure reaches 92 percent.
Both numbers come from the 2026 Blue Cross Women's Health Study, a national survey that also found 53 percent of women have experienced a chronic illness, past or current.
Blue Cross reported that 64 percent of women have health topics they find difficult to raise with their physician, rising to 81 percent among Gen Z women aged 18 to 30 and 73 percent among Millennial women aged 31 to 45.
The study also recorded 71 percent of Canadians describing their doctors as supportive and 88 percent expecting their appointments to unfold positively.
Sarah Hoffman, president and CEO of Pacific Blue Cross, said in the study's release that managing health has come to mean managing the system itself for many women.
They act as "project managers of their own care," coordinating between providers, retelling their medical history and pushing to be heard.
According to Blue Cross, 95 percent of Gen Z men expect a doctor's appointment to go well, against 82 percent of Gen Z women.
On support from family doctors, 82 percent of Gen Z men report feeling supported compared with 66 percent of Gen Z women, a 16-point difference the study identifies as one of its largest gender gaps and three times the gap recorded among Millennials.
Hoffman said in the release that the gap between men and women "raises important questions about why younger women report lower levels of confidence and support."
She also questioned whether the next generation is equipped to advocate for their health.
Fear of dismissal, at 30 percent, and fear of judgement, at 29 percent, rank as the top reasons Gen Z women hold back concerns during appointments.
Embarrassment is the most common barrier for Millennial women at 29 percent, Gen X women aged 46 to 60 at 27 percent, and Boomer women aged 61 to 80 at 35 percent.
Women who felt they needed to prove themselves to be taken seriously reported researching medical information, repeatedly describing or justifying symptoms, bringing written notes or documentation, tracking symptom timelines, making repeat visits, and emphasizing how symptoms affect their daily lives.
Trust ranks ahead of age, gender, and geography as a predictor of a positive healthcare experience.
Canadians who describe their physician as supportive are nearly four times more likely to expect appointments to go well than those who feel unsupported, at 98 percent versus 25 percent.
Among Canadians overall, 66 percent say they describe symptoms accurately, falling to 48 percent among those who feel unsupported by their doctor.
Research + Knowledge = Insights, an independent research company, conducted the online survey in March 2026 among 2,045 adult Canadians, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent, 19 times out of 20.
