Prevalence and characteristics of chronic pain in the general Norwegian population

Background. Population-based studies suggest that prevalence of chronic pain is increasing. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of chronic pain in a sample drawn from the general Norwegian population. In addition, the characteristics of chronic pain, as well as differences in demographic characteristics and health-related variables between persons with and without chronic pain were evaluated. Methods. A total of 4000 Norwegian citizens, were randomly drawn from the National Register, by Statistics Norway and were mailed a questionnaire. Results. The response rate was 48.5%. The majority of the sample was female (51%), married (59%), and working for pay (69%) with a mean age of 45.2 years. The prevalence of chronic pain in the total sample was 24.4%, and 65% of the participants with chronic pain indicated that they had experienced chronic pain for over 5 years. The cause of the pain was not specified by 57% of the participants in chronic pain, and 31% reported no pain treatments. Women, older individuals, persons with less education, and those who were pensioned, reported chronic pain more frequently. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicate that the variables that provide unique contributions to predicting pain group memberships were: gender, education, being frequently ill, or having a chronic illness. Conclusions. These findings suggest that chronic pain is a significant problem in the general Norwegian population, and that gender, education, being frequently ill, or having a chronic illness are important variables in predicting pain group membership. (C) 2004 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.