By the Numbers: 22 April 2019

By the Numbers: 22 April 2019

20.8%

The percentage of adults in the U.S. who had chronic pain in 2016, according to an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- Prevalence of Chronic Pain and High-Impact Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2016.

Additionally, the article reported that 8% of U.S. adults had "high-impact chronic pain," which "frequently limits life or work activities." 

Both were more prevalent among adults living in poverty, adults with less than a high school education, and adults with public health insurance. 

Whereas non-Hispanic white adults had a significantly higher age-adjusted prevalence of chronic pain than did all other racial and ethnic subgroups, no significant differences in high-impact chronic pain prevalence by race/ethnicity were observed. Similarly, the age-adjusted prevalence of chronic pain was significantly higher among veterans than among nonveterans, but no significant difference was observed in the prevalence of high-impact chronic pain.