U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

Prevalence of Chronic Pain and High-Impact Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2016

Supporting Files Public Domain


Details

  • Journal Article:
    Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Chronic pain, one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care (1), has been linked to restrictions in mobility and daily activities (2,3), dependence on opioids (4), anxiety and depression (2), and poor perceived health or reduced quality of life (2,3). Population-based estimates of chronic pain among U.S. adults range from 11% to 40% (5), with considerable population subgroup variation. As a result, the 2016 National Pain Strategy called for more precise prevalence estimates of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain (i.e., chronic pain that frequently limits life or work activities) to reliably establish the prevalence of chronic pain and aid in the development and implementation of population-wide pain interventions (5). National estimates of high-impact chronic pain can help differentiate persons with limitations in major life domains, including work, social, recreational, and self-care activities from those who maintain normal life activities despite chronic pain, providing a better understanding of the population in need of pain services. To estimate the prevalence of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain in the United States, CDC analyzed 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data. An estimated 20.4% (50.0 million) of U.S. adults had chronic pain and 8.0% of U.S. adults (19.6 million) had high-impact chronic pain, with higher prevalences of both chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain reported among women, older adults, previously but not currently employed adults, adults living in poverty, adults with public health insurance, and rural residents. These findings could be used to target pain management interventions.
  • Subjects:
  • Source:
    MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 67(36):1001-1006.
  • Series:
  • DOI:
  • ISSN:
    0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
  • Pubmed ID:
    30212442
  • Pubmed Central ID:
    PMC6146950
  • Document Type:
  • Place as Subject:
  • Pages in Document:
    6 pdf pages
  • Volume:
    67
  • Issue:
    36
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:cbde0118f510a5e949c58040373e10e27f082e2054120750717bfd48978204ab1c5dd945327d4279bfa3d4609addd9309ac6ef09218db8056810789503c0fe35
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 159.71 KB ]
ON THIS PAGE

CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.

As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.