Pain Statistics

1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. A recent market research report indicates that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain and that approximately 3-4.5% of the global population suffers from neuropathic pain, with incidence rate increasing in complementary to age.⁽¹⁾

Pain is a significant public health problem that costs society at least $560-$635 billion annually (an amount equal to about $2,000.00 for everyone living in the U.S.).⁽³⁾

In the past year, half (48%) of Americans surveyed report having suffered from minor muscle strains or sprains on body parts other than their back, while 34% say they have suffered from acute back pain.⁽²⁾

A survey from the American Pain Foundation indicates that 68 percent of people who have experienced acute back pain or other minor muscle strains and sprains in the past year feel that the recession has caused, increased or affected their pain.⁽²⁾

The prevalence of pain has a tremendous impact on business, with a recent report by the Institute of Medicine indicating that the annual value of lost productivity in 2010 dollars ranged between $297.4 billion to 335.5 billion. The value of lost productivity is based on three estimates: days of work missed (ranging from $11.6 to $12.7 billion); hours of work lost (from $95.2 to $96.5 billion); and lower wages (from $190.6 billion to $226.3 billion).⁽³⁾

More than one-quarter of Americans (26%) age 20 years and over – an estimated 76.5 million Americans – report that they have had a problem with pain of any sort that persisted for more than 24 hours in duration. (NOTE: this number does not account for acute pain).⁽⁴⁾

Adults age 45-64 years were the most likely to report pain lasting more than 24 hours (30%). Twenty-five percent (25%) of young adults age 20-44 reported pain, and adults age 65 and over were the least likely to report pain (21%).⁽⁴⁾

When asked about four common types of pain, respondents of a National Institute of Health Statistics survey indicated that low back pain was the most common (27%), followed by severe headache or migraine pain (15%), neck pain (15%) and facial ache or pain (4%).⁽⁵⁾

Back pain is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years old. More than 26 million Americans between the ages of 20-64 experience frequent back pain.⁽⁵⁾

Adults with low back pain are often in worse physical and mental health than people who do not have low back pain: 28% of adults with low back pain report limited activity due to a chronic condition, as compared to 10% of adults who do not have low back pain. Also, adults reporting low back pain were three times as likely to be in fair or poor health and more than four times as likely to experience serious psychological distress as people without low back pain.⁽⁵⁾

(1) Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Report, January 10, 2011. http://www.prweb.com/pdfdownload/8052240.pdf
(2) Painfoundation.org http://www.painfoundation.org/learn/pain-conditions/acute-pain/economy-pain-survey.pdf
(3) Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Report. Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research, 2011. The National Academies Press, Washington DC. (page 260) http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13172&page=260
(4) National Centers for Health Statistics, Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans 2006, Special Feature: Pain.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf.
(5) National Centers for Health Statistics, Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans 2006, Special Feature: Pain.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf.