India’s 82% of the Population Suffers from High Stress Levels, Reveals the Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey 2019

Sandwich Generation followed by Millennials Suffers from high anxiety levels Mumbai, March 28, 2019: Global health service company Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) today released the results of its 2019 Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey - Well and Beyond. The Survey reveals that stress levels in India remain very high compared to other developed and emerging countries such as the USA, UK, Germany, France and Australia. Almost 82 percent of India’s population are suffering from stress and those in the sandwich generation (aged 35-49) are most affected with around 89 percent reporting some level of stress. The major causes of stress in the country today are work, health, and finance related issues. The Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey, now on its fifth year, aims to examine people’s perceptions of well-being across five key indexes - physical, family, social, financial and work. The addition of numerous health-related topics makes this Cigna’s most comprehensive survey to date. This year’s survey shines the spotlight on India’s workplace wellness programs, which are more widespread and have higher participation rates than most other markets. Low Awareness on Heart Health When questioned as to whether respondents knew their own Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure numbers, India fared better than the global average showing an awareness of heart health indicators. 61% know their BMI (compared to 51% globally) and 76% know their blood pressure compared to 66% globally. However, they are aware of an average of 2.2 symptoms that may indicate potential heart problems compared to the global average of 2.4. Even worse, in the past six months, respondents experienced an average number of 2.3 symptoms compared to 1.8 globally. 1 in 3 people don’t think high blood pressure is curable with lifestyle change suggesting a gap in heart health education while only 38% of respondents use wearables to track and manage heart health. “It’s extremely worrying that 1 in 3 people don’t think high blood pressure is curable with lifestyle change, as these silent conditions can lead to a deadly heart attack or stroke if untreated. A major finding of concern is that India has witnessed an alarming rise in the occurrence of heart disease and stroke in the past 25 years. Thus it is extremely important to increase awareness about a heart-healthy lifestyle for everyone, and not just for people with existing health problem to reduce the risk of heart disease and improve quality of wellbeing”, says Prasun Sikdar, MD and Chief Executive Officer, Cigna TTK Health Insurance.