This is breaking news! The U.S. Pain Foundation is pulling back the veil on the number of public health crisis in the United States. That crisis is chronic pain. 

Chronic pain affects about 20 percent of the world’s population. That means 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, or pain that lasts most days or every day for three months or more. Of this group, 20 million suffer from high-impact chronic pain, or pain that interferes with basic functioning and activities of daily living, like personal hygiene and household chores. Pain is the number one reason Americans access the health care system, and the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Estimates suggest pain costs the nation at least $560-635 billion a year in direct medical costs and lost productivity.

Between March 29 to April 12, 2022, U.S. Pain Foundation conducted a survey of 2,378 individuals to better understand the public health crisis of chronic pain. Respondents included 2,275 people with chronic pain (96%), defined as pain lasting three months or more, as well as 72 caregivers (3%) and 31 health care professionals (1%). The title of the report is, “A Chronic Pain Crisis 2022 Survey Report.”

Topics explored included types of pain, ability to work, patient-provider relationships, cost, treatment options, concerns about side effects, mental health, COVID-19, and mobility issues.

The results underscore the devastating impact of chronic pain on quality of life. Some of the main sections of the report include:

• Key findings
• Respondent demographics
• The intersection of pain, disability, and poverty
• Pain management therapies
• Key barriers to effective pain care 
• And much more, including recommendations

If you, or someone you know or love, lives with chronic pain, they should have this report in their hands, and should their provider(s). This report provides a deep-dive into the biopsychosocial aspects of chronic pain you won’t find in any research papers in the last two decades. Any practitioner serving those in chronic pain should not only read this report, but should keep it as an educational aid to use with their patients. You’ll learn much from this report; you’ll garner important information needed giving you the voice necessary to advocate for yourself or others in pain. The Foundation packs every page, without exception, with valuable information. But they present that information in a very digestible manner consistently throughout the report’s pages in prose, tables,  and graphics. Few reports possess this level of quality and professionalism. 

You can access the report at https://uspainfoundation.org/surveyreports/a-chronic-pain-crisis/