Trends in Pain Prevalence among Adults Aged 50 and Older across Europe, 2004 to 2015

Abstract

Objectives: We examine recent trends in pain prevalence among adults aged 50+ across Europe. Methods: Data for 15 countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe are examined for two periods: 2004-2011 and 2013-2015. Trends are shown descriptively, using a multilevel modeling strategy controlling for covariates, and modeled on a country-specific basis. Results: Population-level pain prevalence ranges from about 30% to about 60% depending on the country and year. Pain is more prevalent in women and generally increases with age. There is an increase in prevalence over time, net of age, and other predictors. Prevalence increased with an annual average of 2.2% between 2004 and 2011 and 5.8% between 2013 and 2015, in fully adjusted models. Discussion: Trends in pain prevalence have implications for disability, healthcare utilization, productivity, and population health. These findings are not optimistic but align with other population-wide studies, suggesting a global trend of rising pain prevalence.

Keywords: Europe; aging; cross-national analysis; pain; trends.

Figure 1.

Country-specific point estimates and 95% confidence intervals for the effect of one year of time on the log-odds of reporting pain across Waves 1, 2, and 4. Note. Data from Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe, 2004–2011, ages 50+, for models predicting pain as a function of time, from the base model that adjusts for age and sex, and the full model that adjusts for age, sex, marital status, education, six chronic conditions, obesity, and depression.

Figure 2.

Country-specific point estimates and 95% confidence intervals for the effect of one year of time on the log-odds of reporting pain across Waves 5 and 6. Note. Data from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe, 2013–2015, ages 50+, for models predicting pain as a function of time, from the base model that adjusts for age and sex, and the full model that adjusts for age, sex, marital status, education, six chronic conditions, obesity, and depression.