Pain as a global public health priority

Abstract

BackgroundPain is an enormous problem globally. Estimates suggest that 20% of adults suffer from pain globally and 10% are newly diagnosed with chronic pain each year. Nevertheless, the problem of pain has primarily been regarded as a medical problem, and has been little addressed by the field of public health.DiscussionDespite the ubiquity of pain, whether acute, chronic or intermittent, public health scholars and practitioners have not addressed this issue as a public health problem. The importance of viewing pain through a public health lens allows one to understand pain as a multifaceted, interdisciplinary problem for which many of the causes are the social determinants of health. Addressing pain as a global public health issue will also aid in priority setting and formulating public health policy to address this problem, which, like most other chronic non-communicable diseases, is growing both in absolute numbers and in its inequitable distribution across the globe.SummaryThe prevalence, incidence, and vast social and health consequences of global pain requires that the public health community give due attention to this issue. Doing so will mean that health care providers and public health professionals will have a more comprehensive understanding of pain and the appropriate public health and social policy responses to this problem.

A qualitative exploration of people's experiences of pain neurophysiological education for chronic pain: The importance of relevance for the individual

“…Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a common long-term condition affecting 20% of people worldwide (Goldberg & McGee, 2011). Many people with chronic pain become disabled, resulting in a loss of identity, difficulty coping and a reduction in quality of life (Maniadakis & Gray, 2000).…”

Acute and subchronic antinociceptive effects of nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor agonists infused by intrathecal route in rats

“…Pain represents a widespread public health issue (Goldberg and McGee, 2011) with several effects on physical, emotional and cognitive functions. In particular, severe pain is defined as pain that persists beyond normal tissue healing time, or more than 3-6 months (Verhaak et al, 1998).…”

Chronic pain as a human rights issue: setting an agenda for preventative action

“…As R’s story makes clear, chronic pain is a public-health and human-rights issue [30]. It is not new for chronic pain to be seen as a public-health issue, but the contextual factors discussed here – factors which are very common in the majority world – realign the argument.…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on the Social Determinants of Health report [34] makes it clear that, as Goldberg and McGee [30] put it, ‘remedies for the most pressing and inequitable global health problems are typically to be found outside the provision of health care services’ (para. 11).…”

“…Interestingly enough, when the Commission’s Social Determinants of Health report is brought into the pain literature by Goldberg and McGee [30], though the spirit of these three principles can be detected subliminally in the text, the question of social action to attempt the prevention of chronic pain – and the researching of the effects, if any, of this social action – is not mentioned. So, in the WHO’s Social Determinants of Health report [34], chronic pain is not mentioned, and when the principles of this report are introduced to the chronic pain literature, engagement with the social conditions which may contribute to chronic pain is not mentioned.…”