Chronic Pain in the Japanese Community—Prevalence, Characteristics and Impact on Quality of Life

Abstract

BackgroundChronic pain is recognized as a public health problem that affects the general population physically, psychologically, and socially. However, there is little knowledge about the associated factors of chronic pain, such as the influence of weather, family structure, daily exercise, and work status.ObjectivesThis survey had three aims: 1) to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain in Japan, 2) to analyze these associated factors, and 3) to evaluate the social burden due to chronic pain.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional postal survey in a sample of 6000 adults aged ≥20 years. The response rate was 43.8%.ResultsThe mean age of the respondents was 57.7 years (range 20–99 years); 39.3% met the criteria for chronic pain (lasting ≥3 months). Approximately a quarter of the respondents reported that their chronic pain was adversely influenced by bad weather and also oncoming bad weather. Risk factors for chronic pain, as determined by a logistic regression model, included being an older female, being unemployed, living alone, and no daily exercise. Individuals with chronic pain showed significantly lower quality of life and significantly higher psychological distress scores than those without chronic pain. The mean annual duration of absence from work of working-age respondents was 9.6 days (range 1–365 days).ConclusionsOur findings revealed that high prevalence and severity of chronic pain, associated factors, and significant impact on quality of life in the adult Japanese population. A detailed understanding of factors associated with chronic pain is essential for establishing a management strategy for primary care.

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“…Perhaps unsurprisingly, better physical QoL was seen in nurses reporting better performance of health risk behaviours (not smoking/overweight or obese; meeting physical activity recommendations) and better health (no sleep problems, sickness absence or hospital admissions, chronic diseases or prescribed medication use), although of course the direction of these relationships cannot be determined: PCS could equally be a cause or result of, for example, overweight/obesity. These associations were consistent with previous studies showing health‐related issues as key factors for the overall experience of well‐being and QoL (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran, Persch, Tarso, Ioppi, & Mezzich, ). The absence of disease has been positively associated with QoL in the general population (Garrido et al., ; Inoue et al., ; Lapane et al., ; Zubaran et al., ).…”

The economic and humanistic costs of chronic lower back pain in Japan

“…Also, no clinical measures were available in this survey database and it was not possible to control for all factors that may have affected results (e.g., unmeasured variables correlated with the presence of CLBP in the study). Nonetheless, self-reported measures were routinely used to collect information on the variables used in this study in similar prior studies 4,11,12,14,18,35,36. Also, current study findings align with research using hospital financial service and work injury compensation data 17,18.…”

“…However, lifetime prevalence of LBP in Japan has been estimated to be as high as 83% among the general population, using data from a large study of nearly 70,000 internet-based survey respondents, noting that most respondents were without disability 3. Another recent survey in Japan found that LBP was the site of pain for approximately 31% of Japanese adults with chronic pain in a community postal survey (however, it only allowed one response for the location of pain) 4. Moreover, the worldwide burden that is attributed to LBP has been rapidly increasing over time, with estimates for LBP-related disability-adjusted life years skyrocketing from 58.2 million in 1990 to 83 million in 2010 2…”

“…Inoue et al reported a prevalence of chronic lower back pain (CLBP) of approximately 12% in a Japanese community postal survey 4. Another 2015 study reported the indirect costs of chronic pain estimated from a Japanese national survey (72.10% of respondents reported chronic back pain specifically) 14.…”

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“…12 A 2011 survey in an industrialized community in Japan estimated that the prevalence of chronic pain, defined as "persistent pain of more than 3 months," was 39.3%. 13 Thus, chronic pain seems to be a major problem in both countries.…”