Chronic pain has become more common since covid-19 emerged 鈥� and long covid only accounts for some of the rise.
The coronavirus was first identified in December 2019, which led to lockdowns being implemented around the world within months. Researchers initially warned that due to reduced access to healthcare, more sedentary lifestyles and possibly lingering symptoms of the infection.
But scientists previously found , defined as experiencing pain on most days or every day over the past three months, among US adults from 2019 to 2021.
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at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and at the University at Buffalo in New York wanted to explore the situation further into the pandemic, which the World Health Organization only declared to .
The pair analysed data from the US National Health Interview Survey, carried out in 2019, 2021 and 2023. In each year, a different group of around 88,000 people aged 18 or older was asked to report on experiences of chronic pain.
Supporting previous research, 21 per cent of people had chronic pain in both 2019 and 2021. But in 2023, that rose to 24 per cent. If extrapolated to the entire US population, this is equivalent to 10 million more adults experiencing chronic pain in 2023 compared with 2019, says Zajacova.
The rise applied to discomfort across most of the body, such as headaches and back, shoulder, neck and abdominal pain. Only tooth and jaw pain didn鈥檛 increase, but it is unclear why this was the exception.
The researchers also found that 7.5 per cent of people reported having chronic pain that interfered with everyday activities in 2019, which had increased to 8.5 per cent by 2023 鈥� resulting in an additional 2.6 million US adults being affected, says Zajacova.
These effects rose similarly across men and women and people of different ages. 鈥淲e found a very broad impact,鈥� says Zajacova.
Based on long covid data, the researchers estimate that around 15 per cent of the increase in chronic pain was due to long covid, . 鈥淎t the population level, the increases in pain for people with long covid are not sufficient to explain what happened with chronic pain rates,鈥� says Zajacova.
Other changes brought about by the pandemic may account for the rest of the rise. 鈥淚f you are socially isolated through covid-19 measures and you have poor access to pain management, acute pain is more likely to become chronic,鈥� says at the University of Bath, UK.
There is also evidence that , which increases the risk of pain related to joints and muscles, says at the University of Dundee, UK.
It is unclear exactly why this increase only occurred by 2023, but it could take time for pain to go from acute to chronic, says Colvin.
Countries varied in their lockdown restrictions, but Colvin expects similar results would apply to the UK. 鈥淔rom talking to other pain specialists across the country, I think it鈥檚 the same,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he referral rate to pain clinics has gone up.鈥�
We must continue to monitor if the trend persists in the years to come, says Zajacova. 鈥淧ain is a really important measure of population health.鈥�
medRxiv
