- I want to tell you about my grandmother.

She has diabetes, but sometimes, the sugars and the carbs, they sneak in there.

Can I ask you what you're eating?

- A Lorna Doone cookie.

- [Sheena] And what is on your lap?

- Oh, no, I'm not eating this.

- [Sheena] You're not eating that?

- No.

- [Sheena] So why is it there?

- Cheryl just handed it to me.

- [Sheena] Uh-huh.

So sometimes, when we're at the doctor's office together, she tends to stretch the truth or leave a little bit of the truth out.

- Constance, it is so good to meet you.

My name is Dr. Alok Patel, but you can call me Alok.

Can you tell me about your diet?

- Everything I like, I mean that I really love, like rice, macaroni, I'm not supposed to eat.

- What about candy?

- Oh, no.

- [Sheena] Let's see, Lorna Doone.

- Oh, but I didn't eat all of that.

- You didn't eat all of that?

- No.

- No?

- Now didn't I tell y'all I cheat sometime?

I told you, doc.

I cheat sometime.

I'm only human.

- She did.

Listen, to be fair, Ms. Connie did say she cheats sometimes.

- Okay.

- Well, my grandmother isn't alone.

Studies have shown that a quarter of patients lie to their doctors.

- And I bet that number is even higher because let's be real, people probably lie on the surveys that are included in these studies.

- Another study must have had a lie detector test involved.

It stated that three quarters of all patients lie to their doctors, and that's most of us.

- So what's with all these people playing Pinocchio with their doctors?

As healthcare professionals, we wanted to learn more about this, so we figured, let's go ask people.

- All right, so big question.

What do people lie to their doctors about?

- Their weight sometimes or some underlying conditions.

- Besides sex and drugs.

- Smoking and drinking, if they're sexually active or not, things like that.

- Now, exactly what it is that people are lying about, it varies.

It's based on age, gender, circumstance.

The most common lie by far is about smoking for people under the age of 35.

For people above the age of 35, they lie about exercise.

- Gender matters too.

Men are more likely to fib about alcohol consumption, whereas women are more likely to downplay how many sexual partners they've had.

This speaks volumes to our societal norms because we're so scared to be judged as women that we're willing to lie to our doctors who we know have to keep it private, and men are terrified of seeming like they're alcoholics.

What's going on here?

- It's weird, and I think it plays into the machismo thing.

We don't want to admit, hey, I'm depressed or I'm having trouble down there, I'm drinking alcohol, whereas the number of sexual partners, I feel like guys brag about, and then some women may feel ashamed to talk about it.

While this isn't exactly a lie, it's telling an interesting that a third of people surveyed didn't speak up if they disagreed with their doctor or didn't understand their doctor's instructions.

We got to fix that.

People have to advocate for themselves.

- I don't think people realize, we want you to understand.

Ask us for a take-home summary.

Tell us, we want to know.

We want to know what's wrong.

What can we do better?

And I love when patients ask me questions.

What's worrisome is, the more serious that someone's condition was, the more likely they were to lie about it or withhold information.

They were also more likely to lie if they were female or if they were younger.

- People tend to downplay their symptoms sometimes out of a desire to be seen as maybe a little more stoic or just not be a burden on their doctors.

I know I've tended to do that before.

- Why do you think people lie about whether they're doing drugs or having sex?

Why do people like about that?

- Don't want people to know.

They're embarrassed.

- I don't want there to be a black mark on my medical record that might, down the line, come and bite me in the butt.

- Here are the top reasons we heard.

Number one, people don't want to be judged or be lectured to.

Number two, people don't want to be told how harmful their behavior is.

And number three, some topics, some questions, are just flat out embarrassing.

- Everyone has their own reason for lying.

- I'm always afraid I'm gonna be too much of a complainer and that my doctor's just gonna think I'm a hypochondriac.

And I think it's because I've been gaslighted so many times.

- Question for you.

Do you think that the gaslighting is something that you've experienced more as a person of color?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

I come from a mixed-race family.

Six of my brothers and sisters are blonde hair, blue eyed.

I'm a veteran, and I've had some serious injuries and getting pain medication or anything, it's not even offered.

Whereas I have a sister who's overdosed and died due to pain medication overdose.

So, there's a huge difference.

- When I ask why people lie to their doctors, it sounds like it's coming from a place of being judged, stereotyped, gaslighting, and trust in the system.

- Right.

- And we spoke to another young woman who spoke to us in length about how she didn't want to be a burden.

She didn't want to be a complainer, that she would hide her symptoms or downplay them because she didn't want to come off as if she was complaining too much, and that broke my little heart.

As a nurse, I want to know.

I want to know what's wrong with you so I can help fix it.

- So bottom line, in order to give you accurate and thorough medical advice, we need to know all the facts, including the teeny tiny ones.

For example, alcohol was already not that great for your body, surprise, surprise, but if you're hiding your alcohol consumption, your doctor may not get a full picture of how many calories you take in or your sugar intake, and that can completely mess with your diet or healthy eating plans.

- Keeping up with the medications that you're taking is another issue.

We get it.

Prescriptions can be complicated, but by not speaking up when things are unclear, your medications may be not as effective.

But no matter what your reason is, lying to your doctor is just plain dangerous.

- All this talk about lying is having me now reflecting back on not only my own experiences of when I've lied, but things that patients have lied to me about.

It bothers me to my core, victims of abuse for lying about what they're going through.

- Yeah.

- They're afraid of the law blaming them instead of the perpetrator.

That is a deep systemic issue, but it's a really good example of how not only do we want patients to tell the truth, we've gotta create the environment for them to feel comfortable to tell the truth.

- Right, and that's exactly why when you're doing that kind of assessment, you're supposed to do it alone.

You ask for whoever's around to step outside so that person can be completely honest because how are they supposed to tell the truth with their abuser in the room?

On one occasion, I was caring for a woman who had came in with liver failure, but we couldn't quite pinpoint what was making her so sick.

We found out that she was suffering from acute Tylenol toxicity or Tylenol poisoning.

Her husband had been overdosing her at home.

In cases like this where abuse is suspected, patients are more likely to be more open and honest with you about their lifestyle at home and what may be happening when we're giving them a bath or preparing them for lunch.

In those moments, patients feel they can relate to us and they feel more comfortable.

So what makes it easier for us to tell the truth?

- Just knowing that if I enter this space, it's a private space.

A lot of people go in there thinking about, this is pretty embarrassing to say.

- You know, as a doctor, we really have one job and that's to get you feeling as healthy as possible.

We're not here to judge you, and about all those bodily questions that may seem too personal or too embarrassing to talk about, guess what?

We get it, it happens to us too.

We're all human.

- The medical system isn't perfect, but try to think of us as your ally.

- So we will work on building trust with all of you, and all of you, please feel free to share anything you want with us.

- So, Alok, we're patients too.

Have you ever lied to your doctor?

- And that's all the time we have for this episode of "Vitals."

If you like this video, be sure to check out our next one.

- And if you have a story to share about lying to your doctor, feel free to share it with us on all of our socials, PBS Vitals.

Thanks for watching, everyone.