A population based study of the prevalence of pain in Iceland

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Pain
• Main Authors: Gunnarsdottir, Sigridur, Ward, Sandra E., Serlin, Ronald C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2010
• Subjects: Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine; Neurology (clinical); Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjpain.2010.05.028; https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/sjpain/1/3/article-p151.xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1877886010000753?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1877886010000753?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1016/j.sjpain.2010.05.028/xml; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1016/j.sjpain.2010.05.028/pdf

Abstract Prevalence estimates of pain differ depending on how it is defined and measured and on the populations studied. It has been estimated that on a given day, as many as 30–44% of the general population experience some kind of pain. Information about the prevalence of pain in Iceland is not available. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of pain of various origins among the general population of Iceland, to test hypotheses regarding relationships between pain, quality of life (QOL) and demographic variables, to evaluate participants’ beliefs about causes of their pain, and to evaluate how those who experience pain manage it. A random sample of 1286 adults was drawn from a national registry holding information about all citizens of Iceland. Data were collected with a postal-survey. Pain was evaluated with the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), with instructions modified to evaluate pain in the past week as opposed to the past 24 h. Of 1286 invited, 599 (46.6%) participated, of which, 232 had experienced pain in the past week (40.3%). Participants had a mean (SD) age of 44.94 (17.12) years and 56% were women. Those who had pain perceived their health to be worse than those who had not [ B = −0.91, SE = 0.15, Wald = 38.75, p = 0.00], but did not differ on other variables. Of 232 individuals reporting pain, 183 (79.6%) or 30.6% of the total sample had experienced pain for more than three months. On a scale from 0 “no pain” to 10 “pain as bad as I can imagine” the mean (SD) pain severity score (composite of four pain severity scores) for the 232 participants reporting pain was 3.21 (1.73) and pain interference with life activities 2.59 (1.98), also on a 0–10 scale. Pain severity predicted pain interference [ B = 0.71; F = 126.14; df = 1,206; p = 0.00], which mediated the effects of pain severity on mood and QOL. Between Pain Interference with Life and Positive Affect [ B = −0.06; F = 4.53; df = 1,196; p = 0.04], between Pain Interference and Negative Affect [ B = 0.15; F = 23.21; df = 1,196; p = ...