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RIGHTS

For global government bodies, medical societies, and human rights organizations that consider pain management a human right, see:

• Access to Pain Management as a Human Right (2019)

• Access to Pain Management—Still Very Much a Human Right (2016)

• In the US, equal access to pain healthcare is covered as a civil rights issues by the Americans with Disabilities Act and other anti-discrimination laws.

IMPACTS

Pain and Economics

Americans spend billions on treatments for pain that are often ineffective. 

The cost to society, which ranges from direct healthcare costs to lost work, reaches more than half a trillion dollars each year.

Pain and Prevalence

• 1 in 4 people in the US experiences chronic pain, or pain every day or nearly every day

• More than 22 million Americans have pain that regularly impedes their ability to work or engage in daily life activities.

• While pain can affect anyone at any age, some groups at a population level experience more chronic or high-impact chronic pain than others.

• Recent CDC data suggests that pain is more prevalent in women, individuals living in rural areas, and with increased age. Chronic and high-impact chronic pain also vary by race and ethnicity.

Pain and Women

• Women experience more chronic pain, have more diseases causing pain, and more often have their pain dismissed by clinicians (various articles)

• Different biological pathways may be responsible for pain in males (glial cells) and females (t cells) (2020) & Nature (2019)

• Research suggests that being born with XX chromosomes predisposes one to autoimmune conditions that commonly cause chronic pain (2024)

• Women experience impediments to pain care (2018)

Pain and Geography

• People living in rural areas tend to experience more chronic and high impact chronic pain than those closer to or in urban areas.

Pain and Disability 

• Pain is the chief cause of disability worldwide, according to the global burden of disease studies (2016), and in the US according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2016)

• Chronic pain is an increasing factor in functional limitation and disability among middle-aged and aging adults in the U.S. (2024)

• People with disabilities have often comorbid conditions causing pain and struggle to get appropriate pain treatment:

• People with disabilities face physical and communication barriers that limit their access to pain treatment (various, CDC).

• People with intellectual or developmental disabilities face barriers being believed or understood that have implications for the management of their pain (2014)

• People with disabilities face barriers related to misperceptions and biases of providers (NAESM, various)

Pain and Race

• Native Alaskans and Native Americans experience the highest percentage of chronic pain and high impact chronic pain in the U.S. (2024)

• Black patients report higher average levels of pain but, in 90% of US healthcare systems, receive significantly lower doses of pain medication (2021)

• Brain imaging studies find that Black patients may experience more pain (2020)

• 20 years of studies show that Black and Hispanic patients are less likely to receive pain medication for acute pain in the ER (2019)

• Clinicians incorrectly believe that Black people feel less pain than White people, resulting in systematic undertreatment (2016)

• Native Alaskans and Native Americans experience the highest percentage of chronic pain and high impact chronic pain in the U.S.

Pain & Veterans

• Veterans who experience chronic pain are about 40% more likely to have severe pain than the average person, according to the VA’s Health Services and Research Development (various)

• Veterans have greater severity of pain overall compared with the general population (2017)

• Pain is one of the chief health complaints of Veterans (2015)

Pain and Age

Children’s Pain:

• Pain prevention and treatment in children is inadequate (2020)

• Pain is rising among younger Americans as compared with the previous generations (2020)

Older Persons’ Pain:

• Bothersome pain afflicts 18.8 Million older adults in the US (2013)

• Two thirds of older Americans suffer multiple chronic conditions; an estimated 60-75% of people over 65 report chronic pain (2014)

• Americans are experiencing increasing pain in middle age (2020)

• CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain -United States (2022)

• Best Practices in Pain Assessment and Management for Children, Canada (2022)

• CDC Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (2016)