The course of chronic pain in the community: results of a 4-year follow-up study

Abstract

Little is known about the course of chronic pain in the community. Such information is needed for the prevention and management of chronic pain. We undertook a 4-year follow-up study of 2184 individuals living in Grampian, UK to describe patterns and predictors of change in chronic pain over time. In October 2000, participants completed a postal questionnaire including case definition questions, the chronic pain grade questionnaire, the SF-36 and socio-demographic questions. Information from this questionnaire was compared to information collected from a similar questionnaire in 1996. A response rate of 83% was achieved for the follow-up study. The overall prevalence of chronic pain (pain or discomfort present either all the time or on and off for 3 months or longer) increased from 45.5% at baseline to 53.8% at follow-up. Seventy-nine percent of those with chronic pain at baseline still had it at follow-up. The average annual incidence was 8.3% and the average annual recovery rate was 5.4%. Individuals in the study samples who are in lowest quartile of SF-36 domains--physical functioning, social functioning and bodily pain at baseline--were more likely to develop chronic pain at follow-up, and respondents who were retired were less likely to develop chronic pain. Individuals in the study samples in the lowest quartile of SF-36 domains, bodily pain and general health at baseline, were less likely to recover from their chronic pain, as were those aged 45-74 compared with those aged 25-34. We concluded that chronic pain is a common, persistent problem in the community with relatively high incidence and low recovery rates. The lack of association between onset or recovery from chronic pain and most traditional socio-demographic factors, highlights the need to broaden the range of factors included in studies of chronic pain aetiology.

Primary Care Patients with Drug Use Report Chronic Pain and Self-Medicate with Alcohol and Other Drugs

“…The associations between chronic pain and older age, 27 depression and anxiety 28 and increased healthcare utilization 29 have been well described. While the association between pain and unemployment, less education and race is not clear, 30 these characteristics are associated with lower socioeconomic status, which has been associated with increased prevalence and severity of chronic pain. 31 While our study found a higher prevalence of chronic pain in Hispanic participants, this is counter to a large U.S. epidemiologic study that found significantly less chronic pain in Hispanics compared to Non-Hispanics.…”

Risk Factors in Opioid Treatment of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: A Multidisciplinary Assessment

“…Chronic pain is a common and persistent problem in society, with a relatively high incidence and a low remission rate (Elliott et al, 2002). Verhaak et al (1998), after reviewing 15 epidemiological studies on chronic pain in the adult population, concluded that its prevalence varied from 2% to 40%, with a mean value of 15%.…”

Practical Chronic Pain Assessment Tools in Clinical Practice

“…Taking into account the PI-NRS, patients were divided into four groups, as follows: no pain (0), mild pain (1-3), medium-severe pain (4-6), and very strong pain (7)(8)(9)(10). A single-item scale was used to assess the overall quality of sleep.…”

“…Therefore, it is of extreme importance for GPs to be able to apply unique therapeutic guidelines and evaluate the effect of applied therapy in their patients. Numerous studies indicate the need of changes in the treatment of CP in family medicine [7][8][9][10] . Comprehensive evaluation of any chronic pain condition requires complete history of the pain, physical examination, specific diagnostic tests, and the application of chronic pain assessment tools 11,12 .…”