Pain problems in young adults and pain reduction strategies

The purpose of this study was to survey young adults about their pain and pain treatments to identify ways to decrease risk for chronic pain. The sample consisted of 89 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who had experienced some pain during the past month and who did not have a chronic condition commonly associated with a pain problem. Community dwelling young adults were screened for eligibility and administered the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI-SF) during a face-to-face interview. They were asked to describe the intensity of their pain during the past month using the 0 to 10 numeric scales from the BPI-SF. A pilot study supported these methods. Participants reported their worst pain as M = 6.5 (SD = 1.71), their average pain as M = 4.1 (SD = 1.85), and their least pain intensity as M = 1.8 (SD = 1.68). They reported 20 different self-treatments for their pain. Although 56.2% used nonopioid analgesics, 22.5% used no pain treatments. Participants reported 61.3% pain relief from self-treatments. Young women used analgesics more often than young men (64.9% and 40.6%, respectively, Chi;(2) [1] = 4.91, p <.03). Pain moderately interfered with their mood (M = 4.1; SD = 3.00) and general lives (M = 3.9; SD = 2.42). Identifying young adults at risk for chronic pain provides the first step in educating them about effective ways to prevent chronic pain. Results from this study provide some initial groundwork for educational interventions to prevent chronic pain in young adults.