Pain all the time, at all hours. A pain that prevents you, or at least limits you, from doing the basic activities of daily life and is also mostly suffered in silence because the person who suffers from it cannot complain all day. Although there are reasons for it. This is how at least nine million people live in Spain, especially women. They suffer from chronic pain, one of the main public health problems and which has a notable impact on the well-being and quality of life of the people who suffer from it, negatively affecting the work, social, family and personal spheres.
This is revealed by the Chronic Pain Barometer in Spain 2022, from the Grünenthal Foundation, and based on the performance of more than 7,000 surveys of the population residing in Spain between 18 and 85.
What is the profile of the chronic pain patient (is it considered a disease)? According to the results of this study, chronic pain disease is highly prevalent in Spain, affecting 25.9% of the adult population.
Regarding age, individuals between 55 and 75 years old present the highest prevalence (30.6%), being the youngest population, between 18 and 34 years old, the one that is less affected (prevalence of 18.8% ). The average age of the patient with chronic pain is 51.5 years.
Regarding sex, women have a higher prevalence of the disease (30.5%) compared to men (21.3%). This higher prevalence in the female sex means that among the patients with chronic pain, women are the majority (58.7%).
Chronic pain has a great impact on the individuals who suffer from it. Patients with chronic pain suffer from the disease for an average period of 6.8 years and the average perceived pain intensity is 6.8 points on a scale from 0 (absence of pain) to 10 (unbearable pain).
And it usually has a diagnosed origin, being low back pain the most common, which affects 58.1% of patients. Despite this, 27.1% are unaware of the cause of their disease, which makes its therapeutic approach difficult. In turn, the most common anatomical location of pain is found in extremities and joints, in 33.1% of patients.
The scope that chronic pain presents in patients extends to the work, social, family and personal spheres, limiting the development of their daily activities, negatively affecting their performance and professional occupation and diminishing their state of health, indicates this work.
In daily activities, patients with chronic pain present a significant lack of autonomy to carry them out. Getting up from a chair or bed is the most problematic activity, since 59.9% of the patients present some difficulty or are unable to perform it, 10.7% receiving help to do so.
Regarding professional activities, 28.6% of all patients have required sick leave in the last year, this proportion being 46.5% among paid workers. This need for sick leave has led 32.3% of patients to leave their previous occupation and 17.3% to change their job as a result of pain.
The state of health of patients with chronic pain is affected on a physical, mental and social level. 42.1% of patients with chronic pain have attended health services in the last month, with Primary Care being the reference service, visited by 86.7% of the patients who have received care. Within the specialized services, used by 69.4% of the patients, Traumatology constitutes the specialty with the highest demand, visited by 47.7% of the patients who receive Specialized Care.
22.2% of the patients present depression and 27.6% anxiety, “which highlights the importance of prevention and mental health care in the field of chronic pain,” says the report-
