Prevalence of chronic pain in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and objectives Chronic pain represents a significant health concern affecting a large segment of society. To date, no systematic review and meta-analysis has evaluated the prevalence of chronic pain in the general population aged 18 to 95 years. The present study aimed to assess prevalence of chronic pain in this age group and examine its variation across age, sex, geographical regions, and psychosocial factors. Methods Cochrane Library, PubMed, and MEDLINE, were searched by combining combination of two categories of keywords (prevalence, chronic pain, epidemiology, population-based study, meta-analysis) in the general population till May 2024. Results A total of 52 studies with 2,89,490 participants were included to ascertain the global prevalence of six types of chronic pain: non-specific chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic lower back pain, chronic back pain, chronic widespread pain, and chronic musculoskeletal pain. The overall pooled random-effect prevalence percentage of chronic pain was 26.99%. The chronic pain prevalence percentage was significantly higher in those above 45 yr of age (46.7%), compared to 24.2% in those between 18-45 yr (P<0.001). The prevalence of chronic pain was higher in women as compared to men (31.42% vs. 21.63%) (P=0.07). Interpretation and conclusions The present global meta-analysis of chronic pain across the age group of 18-95 yr, observed a higher prevalence in women and in those alone 45 years of age. There was no geographical difference.