Chronic Pain Affects One in Four Americans, CDC Reports

Chronic pain affected nearly one in four U.S. adults, new CDC survey data showed.

In 2023, 24.3% of adults had chronic pain lasting 3 months or longer, reported Jacqueline Lucas, MPH, and Inderbir Sohi, MSPH, of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Moreover, 8.5% of U.S. adults had high-impact chronic pain — pain severe enough to restrict daily activities — Lucas and Sohi wrote in NCHS Data Brief.

The percentage of adults with chronic pain was higher in women, in people who were American Indian or Alaska Native, in older adults, and in those living in nonmetropolitan areas.

The analysis was based on data from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a cross-sectional poll conducted annually by the NCHS. Previous NHIS survey data showed the percentage of adults with chronic pain was 20.9% in 2021, similar to the pre-pandemic estimate of 20.4% in 2016.

What accounted for the jump in percentage since last year was unclear, but shifting demographics — including more older Americans now than in years past — may play a role. The methodology of the survey and the interview questions did not change over time, a CDC spokesperson said.

Lucas and Sohi used NHIS data to provide updated percentages of adults who experienced chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain in the past 3 months by selected demographic characteristics.

“Chronic pain and pain that often restricts life or work activities, referred to in this report as high-impact chronic pain, are the most common reasons adults seek medical care, and are associated with decreased quality of life, opioid misuse, increased anxiety and depression, and unmet mental health needs,” they wrote.

Chronic pain was determined by responses of “most days” or “every day” to a survey question about pain frequency in the past 3 months. High-impact chronic pain was defined as adults who had chronic pain and who responded “most days” or “every day” to a survey question asking how often pain limited life or work activities in the past 3 months.

The 2023 survey data showed that women were more likely to have chronic pain than men (25.4% vs 23.2%) and to have high-impact chronic pain (9.6% vs 7.3%).

The percentage of adults with chronic pain in the past 3 months rose with age, ranging from 12.3% in young adults under age 30 years to 36.0% in those 65 and older. Likewise, the percentage with high-impact chronic pain in the past 3 months increased from 3.0% in adults under age 30 to 13.5% of those ages 65 and up.

American Indian and Alaska Native adults had higher percentages of both chronic pain (30.7%) and high-impact chronic pain (12.7%) than other groups.

Chronic pain percentages were 20.5% in large central metropolitan areas and 31.4% in nonmetropolitan areas. High-impact chronic pain percentages were 7.3% in large central metropolitan areas and 11.5% in nonmetropolitan areas.