Survey of 450 Lifestyle Disease Patients Reveals 72% Spend 'Zero Yen' on Health Management Services Beyond Medical Visits

Seed Planning Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoshio Umehara) conducted a questionnaire survey targeting 450 patients with lifestyle diseases—diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia—who are currently receiving outpatient treatment. The survey examined their spending on health management services, awareness of cost burdens, and challenges in managing lifestyle diseases.

The results revealed that while many patients recognize the importance of health management, they remain cautious about spending on devices and services beyond medical visit fees.

▼ Details of the survey:

https://www.seedplanning.co.jp/news/6414/

◆ Background and Objectives of the Survey

In Japan, amid declining population and aging society, the importance of preventing, managing, and avoiding the progression of lifestyle diseases has increased significantly. Hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia are all widespread conditions requiring long-term outpatient care, medication, dietary and exercise management, and regular monitoring of test results. These diseases are also closely linked to serious complications such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and dialysis, making them critical policy issues in terms of healthcare cost efficiency and extending healthy life expectancy.

In this context, services supporting the prevention and management of lifestyle diseases are gaining attention as complements to diagnosis and treatment provided by medical institutions.

This survey defined 'lifestyle disease prevention and management services' as products and services that support the prevention, management, and progression prevention of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The scope included home blood pressure monitors, self-blood glucose meters, continuous glucose monitors, nutrition and meal management apps, apps for recording blood pressure, blood glucose, and weight, specific health guidance services, and progression prevention services.

These services support users and patients in daily measurement, recording, lifestyle improvement, health guidance, appointment recommendations, and ongoing support. This market involves diverse players, including medical institutions, insurers, local governments, companies, device manufacturers, and app providers.

However, market expansion faces many challenges, including patients’ preference for free services, difficulty in sustained usage, financial constraints of insurers, and relationships with medical reimbursement systems.

This survey aims to understand the actual usage of lifestyle disease prevention and management services from the patient’s perspective and provide foundational data for future service development and dissemination.

◆ Survey Highlights

● 72% reported spending '0 yen' on health management services beyond medical visit costs.

● Diabetes patients show higher concerns about costs and disease progression compared to other conditions.

● While demand for health management is high, patients remain cautious about out-of-pocket expenses.

◆ Device and Service Usage Among Lifestyle Disease Patients

[Cost Burden by Condition]

To understand actual device and service usage among lifestyle disease patients, a questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 450 patients currently receiving outpatient treatment for hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia. The survey asked those using lifestyle disease-related devices or services beyond medical visit costs about their monthly expenditures on home blood pressure monitors, self-blood glucose meters, continuous glucose monitors, meal and nutrition management apps, and healthcare apps.

Overall, 72% responded '0 yen,' indicating that the majority do not spend on health management services beyond medical visits. Among those paying, 8% spend '1 yen or more to less than 500 yen,' 9% spend '500 yen or more to less than 3,000 yen,' and 2% spend '3,000 yen or more to less than 10,000 yen.' No respondents reported spending over 10,000 yen per month. For diabetes patients, '0 yen' was reported by 68%, slightly lower than other conditions, indicating a relatively higher proportion of paid service users. This may reflect the higher daily management burden associated with blood glucose control and monitoring devices in diabetes.

While patients recognize the importance of exercise, diet, measurement, and recording in disease management, their willingness to incur additional costs for devices and services beyond medical visits is low. This survey confirms that while awareness of health management is high among lifestyle disease patients, they remain cautious about spending on paid services.

[Challenges by Condition]

When asked about current challenges in managing their lifestyle disease, concerns about cost burden were evident.

Overall, 'concern about cost burden' was the highest at 26%, followed by 'no particular concerns or challenges' at 25%, and 'difficulty continuing exercise or physical activity' at 23%. Managing lifestyle diseases requires long-term commitment to diet, exercise, medication, measurement, and recording—both financial burden and difficulty maintaining behavioral changes are significant challenges for patients.

By condition, diabetes patients showed higher concerns: 'concern about cost burden' at 35%, and 'worry about future complications or disease progression' at 34%. Additionally, 'difficulty maintaining diet management' and 'difficulty continuing exercise or physical activity' were both at 27%, indicating that diabetes patients face a complex mix of challenges involving cost, progression anxiety, and difficulty managing lifestyle habits.

The previous question revealed that 72% of respondents reported '0 yen' monthly spending on lifestyle disease-related devices and services beyond medical visits. This survey highlights a clear gap between high demand for health management and cautious spending behavior, particularly regarding out-of-pocket costs for devices and services.

◆ Device and Service Usage Among Lifestyle Disease Patients

Survey Target:

・Region: Nationwide

・Age: 15–99 years

・Gender: Male and Female

Survey Method:

・Public data collection via online research

・Device manufacturers, app providers, specific health guidance service providers, etc. (9 organizations)

・Patient questionnaire survey (screening responses: 770, final responses: 450)

Survey Period:

May 2026 – June 2026

Survey Conducted by:

Seed Planning Co., Ltd.

Survey Items:

Patient Reality Survey

・Medical treatment status

・Daily disease management practices

・Awareness and usage of devices and services

Others

・Epidemiology and clinical trends of target diseases

・Related policies (medical reimbursement system, etc.)

・Analysis by device/service (home blood pressure monitors, self-blood glucose meters, continuous glucose monitors, meal and nutrition management apps, blood pressure/blood glucose/weight tracking apps, specific health guidance support services, progression prevention services)

・Market size estimation

◆ Inquiries Regarding This Survey

For more details:

https://www.seedplanning.co.jp/news/6414/

For inquiries about materials:

Public Relations Department

E-mail: [email protected]