Chronic pain is strongly associated with work disability

Abstract

As the authors point out, there is currently no consensus defnition of chronic pain in epidemiology. Though there appears to e some convergence on three or six months as a cutoff between cute and chronic pain, shorter durations have also been applied 2]. The use of additional criteria such as pain intensity or pain mpact varies, as do the scales used to measure these dimensions. n many studies pain is confounded with discomfort, as is the case ith the Rome III criteria for irritable bowel syndrome [3]. Taken ogether one is hard put to find two epidemiological studies that se the exact same definition of chronic pain, making comparisons etween studies problematic to say the least. Inconsistent definitions are most likely the major cause of the uge variation in prevalence estimates, ranging from 11 to 64 perent among adults [4,5]. Lack of comparability means that there s currently little or no grounds for concluding whether there are eal differences between countries or whether chronic pain is a rowing, constantordecliningproblem.This issue isnotpurely acaemic, but has important practical implications. With rising public ealthcare costs, governmentsare increasinglybasingprioritydeciions on epidemiological data sources such as the Global Burden of isease Study [6]. Widely varying prevalence estimates and lack of consensus definition are hardly helpful in placing chronic pain n this agenda. The 2010 wave of Global Burden of Disease Study id include some painful conditions: Notably, low-back pain was anked 1st and neck pain was ranked 4th among causes of years ived with disability (YLD). However, chronic pain as a general catgory was notably absent from the study.