Percentage of people with pain increased 25 percent in 18 years

Created June 2019

18-year Trends in the Prevalence of, and Health Care Use for, Non-Cancer Pain in the United States: Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Journal of Pain https://doi.Org/10.1016/j.jpain.2019.01.003 YJPAI

Richard L. Nahin M.P.H., Ph.D. , Bryan Sayer M.H.S. ,Barbara J. Stussman B.S. , Termeh M. Feinberg M.P.H, Ph.D.

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Since 1997/1998, pain prevalence in U.S. adults increased by 25%.

  • By 2013/2014 about 68 million adults had pain that interfered with work activities.

  • Increased levels of pain-related interference were associated with higher opioid use.

18-year trends in the prevalence of, and health care use for, non-cancer pain in the United States: Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

We used data from the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to determine 18-year trends in the overall rates of non-cancer pain prevalence and pain- related interference, as well as in healthcare use attributable directly to pain management. The proportion of adults reporting painful health condition(s) increased from 32.9% (99.7% CI: 31.6-34.2%;120 million adults) in 1997/1998 to 41.0% (99.7% CI: 39.2%-42.4%; 178 million adults) in 2013/2014 (ptrend <0.0001). Among adults with severe pain-related interference associated with their painful health condition(s), the use of strong opioids specifically for pain management more than doubled from 11.5% (99.7% CI: 9.6-13.4%) in 1997/1998 to 24.3% (99.7% CI: 21.3-27.3%) in 2013/2014 (ptrend <0.0001). A smaller increase (pinteraction <0.0001) in strong opioid use was seen in those with minimal pain-related interference: 1.2% (99.7% CI: 1.0-1.4) in 1997/1998 to 2.3% (99.7% CI: 1.9-2.7%) in 2013/2014. Small but statistically significant decreases (ptrend <0.0001) were seen in: 1) the percentage of adults with painful health condition(s) who had at least one ambulatory office visit for their pain: 56.1 % (99.7% CI: 54.258.0%) in 1997/1998 and 53.3% (99.7% CI: 51.4-55.4%) in 2013/2014; 2) the percentage who had at least one emergency room visit for their pain; 9.9% (99.7% CI: 8.6-11.2%) to 8.8% (99.7% CI: 7.9-9.7%); and 3) the percentage with at least one overnight hospitalization for their pain: 3.2% (99.7% CI: 2.6-4.0%) to 2.3% (99.7% CI:

1.8-2.8%).