Objectives: This study aims to examine age differences in the intensity of chronic pain among middle-aged and older adults, where intensity is measured on a scale differentiating between chronic pain that is often troubling and likely requires intervention versus more endurable sensations. We aim to explore whether individual health and national gross domestic product (GDP) explain these differences as well.
Methods: Cross-nationally harmonized data from 20 countries on self-reported intensity of chronic pain (0 = no, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe) in 104,826 individuals aged 50+ observed in 2012-2013. Two-level hierarchical ordinal linear models with individuals nested within countries were used to isolate estimations from heterogeneity explained by methodological differences across single-country studies.
Results: Overall, mean participant age was 66.9 (SD = 9.9), 56.1% were women, and 41.9% of respondents reported any chronic pain. Chronic pain intensity rose sharply with age in some countries (e.g., Korea and Slovenia), but this association waned or reversed in other countries (e.g., the United States and Denmark). Cross-country variation and age differences in chronic pain were partly explained (85.5% and 35.8%, respectively) by individual-level health (especially arthritis), country-level wealth (as indicated by GDP per capita), and demographics.
Discussion: Chronic pain intensity is not an inevitable consequence of chronological age, but the consequence of potential selection effects and lower activity levels combined with individual-level health and country-level wealth. Our findings suggest further investigation of health conditions and country affluence settings as potential targets of medical and policy interventions aiming to prevent, reduce, or manage chronic pain among older patients and aging populations.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac199 | DOI Listing |
Expert Opin Pharmacother
January 2025
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Introduction: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory estrogen-dependent disease affecting 10% of women worldwide leading to chronic pelvic pain and infertility which may be treated clinically or surgically.
Areas Covered: Current literaure was reviewed using the keywords 'gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa),' 'endometriosis,' 'infertility' and 'chronic pelvic pain.' Relevant papers prioritizing randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT), systematic reviews, meta-analyses, as well as international guidelines were evaluated.
BMC Public Health
January 2025
Department of Oncology, Zhuji People's Hospital of Zhejiang Province, No. 9 Jianmin Road, Zhuji, Zhejiang, 311800, China.
Background: Evidence is lacking on whether chronic pain is related to the risk of cancer mortality. This study seeks to unveil the association between chronic pain and all-cause, cancer, as well as non-cancer death in cancer patients based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database.
Methods: Cancer survivors aged at least 20 (n = 1369) from 3 NHANES (1999-2004) cycles were encompassed.
Mol Neurobiol
January 2025
Guizhou Key Laboratory of Brain Science, Zunyi Medical University, Xinpu New District Campus No. 1 Street, Zunyi, 563000, China.
Previous studies have shown that astrocyte activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), accompanied by upregulation of the astrocyte marker S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B), contributes to comorbid anxiety in chronic inflammatory pain (CIP), but the exact downstream mechanism is still being explored. The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) plays an important role in chronic pain and psychosis by recognizing ligands, including S100B. Therefore, we speculate that RAGE may be involved in astrocyte regulation of the comorbidity between CIP and anxiety by recognizing S100B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Anaesth Analg
January 2025
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Burn-related neuropathic pain (BRNP) can arise following burn-induced nerve damage, affects approximately 6% of burned human patients and can result in chronic pain. Although widely studied in humans, data on BRNP or its treatment in animals is lacking. A 4-year-old domestic shorthair cat was presented with an infected, non-healing wound suspected to be a caustic burn.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBr J Anaesth
January 2025
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address:
Background: Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) persists beyond the expected healing period after surgery, imposing a substantial burden on overall patient well-being. Unfortunately, CPSP often remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. To better understand the mechanism of CPSP development, we aimed to identify genetic variants associated with CPSP.
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