A new analysis of data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) has revealed that the number of Americans who suffer from severe and lasting pain is significant. The new analysis found that nearly 40 million adults (17.6 percent of American adults) experience severe levels of pain. In addition the study found that American adults with severe pain are also more likely to have worse health status. You can find the full study here:
[Estimates of Pain Prevalence and Severity in Adults](https://nccih.nih.gov/research/statistics/NHIS/2012/pain/severity)
In a press release regarding the analysis, Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., M.P.H. explained that he believes that the report highlights the need for more data on what appears to be a prevalent problem. “This report begins to answer calls for better national data on the nature and extent of the pain problem,” said Dr. Nahil. “Continuing analyses of these data may help identify subpopulations that would benefit from additional pain treatment options.”
Indeed, there is a great deal about chronic pain that is still unknown. Chronic pain can be caused by a lot of things — disease, injury, anxiety, or genetics — and in many cases doctors really don’t understand what causes a person to experience pain, or why pain affects people differently. Part of the difficulty in treating patients with chronic pain is that since it affects people differently, treatments need to tailored to suit each individual chronic pain patient.
Chronic pain patients are generally treated with prescription medications. However, prescription and drug errors remain a significant problem in American healthcare. According to the FDA, approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called “medication errors.” The Institute of Medicine reported that medication errors resulted in upward of $3.5 billion in extra medical costs.
The NHIS survey found that this one-size-fits-all approach to the treatment of pain is one of the leading reasons Americans turn to complementary health approaches such as yoga, massage, and meditation. In the press release Dr. Josephine P. Briggs, director of NCCIH, said the “[NCCIH survey] may help shape future research, development, and targeting of effective pain interventions, including complementary health approaches.” Research into alternative and more holistic pain treatments would be welcome, since it may prove safer than simply prescribing prescription painkillers to chronic pain patients.
