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Pain Intensity and Health Service Utilization in United States Adults with Pain: A Cross-Sectional Database Analysis
David R Axon1, Blair Jensen1, Jordanne Koulong Kuemene1
1Department of Pharmacy Practice & Science, R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, The University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 29, 2025
Summary
Higher pain intensity in US adults is linked to increased emergency room, inpatient, and office visits. Understanding these associations can help develop targeted interventions for better health service utilization.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Epidemiology
- Pain Management
Background:
- Pain is a prevalent and often debilitating condition in the United States.
- Significant health service utilization is associated with pain management.
- There is a need to understand the relationship between pain intensity and healthcare use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the associations of pain intensity with health service utilization among US adults.
- To identify specific healthcare utilization patterns related to varying levels of pain.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) full-year consolidated data.
- Inclusion of US adults (≥18 years) reporting pain.
- Analysis of emergency room visits, inpatient discharges, office visits, and outpatient visits using multivariable logistic regression, controlling for demographic and health-related factors.
Main Results:
- Increased pain intensity (extreme, quite a bit, moderate) was significantly associated with higher rates of emergency room visits compared to little pain.
- Extreme and quite a bit of pain correlated with increased inpatient discharges versus little pain.
- Quite a bit of pain showed a significant association with more office visits, but no correlation was found with outpatient visits.
- Several other demographic and health variables also demonstrated associations with health service utilization.
Conclusions:
- Higher levels of pain intensity are frequently correlated with increased utilization of emergency room, inpatient, and office-based healthcare services.
- Findings suggest the potential for developing targeted interventions for individuals with specific pain characteristics.
- Further research and initiatives are recommended to optimize health service utilization and improve health outcomes for adults experiencing pain.
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