Summary
Summary: Pain has been established as a major public health problem in the United States (U.S.), with 50 million adults experiencing chronic pain and 20 million afflicted with high-impact chronic pain (i.e., chronic pain that interferes with life or work activities). High financial and social costs are associated with chronic pain. Over the past two decades, pain management has been complicated by the marked increase in opioids prescribed to treat chronic noncancer pain and by the concurrent opioid crisis. Monitoring the prevalence of chronic pain and pain management is especially important because pain management is changing in uncertain ways. Researchers review potential U.S. chronic pain surveillance systems, present potential difficulties of chronic pain surveillance, and explore how to address chronic pain surveillance in the current opioid era. They consider case definitions, severity, anatomic site, and varieties of chronic pain management strategies in reviewing and evaluating national and other surveys, including the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), for chronic pain surveillance.
Findings: Based on the criteria evaluated, the National Health Interview Survey offers the best single source for pain surveillance as the pain-related questions administered are brief, valid, and cover a broad scope of pain-related phenomena.
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Journal Article: A Review of Potential National Chronic Pain Surveillance Systems in the United States