[Prevalence of chronic pain in adult workers]

Chronic pain is a public health problem which causes personal and social losses. There are few epidemiological studies of chronic pain in Brazil and elsewhere in the world, especially those dealing with non-specific pain, in general population. The objectives of this study were: to identify the prevalence of chronic pain in adult workers; to analyze the prevalence of chronic pain according to gender, and local of pain. The sample was 505 workers at Londrina State University (Paraná, Brazil) (estimated prevalence = 50%, 4% error, and confidence interval = 95%). Data were collected by interviews. The prevalence of chronic pain was 61.4%; and it was significantly higher among women (p = 0.0001). The most prevalent locals of pain were: head (26.7%), lower back (19.4%) and limbs (13.3%).