[Prevalence and features of chronic pain among patients with schizophrenia]

People with schizophrenia generally refrain from manifesting somatic symptoms, and may not complain of pain. Therefore these patients may have an insensitivity to pain.

To determine the prevalence of chronic pain in a sample of patients with schizophrenia.

The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was answered by 79 outpatients with schizophrenia with a mean age of 47 years (67% men) attended at a public hospital in Chile.

Chronic pain, defined as lasting more than six months, was reported by 15.2 % of patients. Acute pain was reported by 63% of patients. No significant differences were observed in sociodemographic characteristics or duration of illness between patients with acute or chronic pain. The assessment of the different pain dimensions showed a predominance of sensory and affective components, with pain rating indexes of 0.82 and 0.71, respectively.

These results indicate that the prevalence of pain among people with schizophrenia, is similar to that of the general population.