بررسي شيوع درد در طول عمر، درد مزمن مستمر و برخي از ويژگي هاي همراه با آن

THE PREVALENCE RATES OF LIFETIME PAIN AND CHRONIC PAIN IN TWO SMALL CITIES IN IRAN

The objectives of this survey were to examine: a) the lifetime prevalence of pain symptoms, b) the prevalence rate of pain over the past 6 months, c) the prevalence rate of chronic persistent pain, and d) to provide more thorough and detailed information on the dimensions of chronic pain among the population of under study. 512 (298 male and 214 female) residents of Gorveh and Eilam areas who came to hospitals to visit one of their hospitalized relatives. participated in the study. Results showed that seventy two percent of the sample reported a pain experience in some points of their lives. The mean age of onset of lifetime pain was 24.89 (SD=9.37) years and the mean time of duration of this type of pain was 7.67 (SD=11.97) months. Twenty-six percent of the total sample reported some sort of pain that had lasted a whole day or moreover the past 6 months. The average age of these subjects was 33.02 (SD=11.94) years and the mean duration of their pain was 21.33 (SD=26.30) months. The prevalence rate of chronic persistent pain in the sample was 9%. Of the 133 subjects who reported pain experience during the past 6 months, 87% had reported seeing a doctor for their pain condition at some time, 14% reported at least one surgery for pain relief. More than two-thirds (68%) of the prevalent cases (i.e. 133 subjects) had reported using some form of medication for their pain condition at the time of survey. Results of t-tests revealed that chronic pain has negative impacts on all aspects of patientʹs general health condition. Results suggested that pain is quite common among the adult population in these areas. Results also revealed that a considerable proportion of the population who sufered from common pain or chronic persistent pain have experienced pain which was severe enough to cause usage of medication for its control. Given the high prevalence of pain, it is possible to postulate that pain may be a significantcause of distress for the considerable proportion of the population.