Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25416319›Full record

ArticleThe European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care2016

The economic impact of chronic pain: a nationwide population-based cost-of-illness study in Portugal.

Luís Filipe Azevedo, Altamiro Costa-Pereira, Liliane Mendonça, Cláudia Camila Dias, José M Castro-Lopes

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Postoperative headache after surgical treatment of cerebellopontine angle tumors: a systematic review.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2021
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Article
  7. Pain Medicine and the Opioid Crisis: Time to Own Our Responsibility!European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
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  15. Portuguese Family Physicians' Perceptions on Pain Management-A Qualitative Study Protocol.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  17. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Luís Filipe AzevedoDepartment of Health Information and Decision Sciences (CIDES), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, s/n, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. lazevedo@med.up.pt.
Altamiro Costa-PereiraDepartment of Health Information and Decision Sciences (CIDES), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, s/n, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal.
Liliane MendonçaCentro Nacional de Observação em Dor (OBSERVDOR, Portuguese National Pain Observatory), Porto, Portugal.
Cláudia Camila DiasDepartment of Health Information and Decision Sciences (CIDES), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, s/n, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal.
José M Castro-LopesCentro Nacional de Observação em Dor (OBSERVDOR, Portuguese National Pain Observatory), Porto, Portugal.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In addition to its high frequency and relevant individual and social impact, chronic pain (CP) has been shown to be a major contributor to increased healthcare utilisation, reduced labour productivity, and consequently large direct and indirect costs. In the context of a larger nationwide study, we aimed to assess the total annual direct and indirect costs associated with CP in Portugal. A population-based study was conducted in a representative sample of the Portuguese adult population. The 5,094 participants were selected using random digit dialling and contacted by computer-assisted telephone interviews. Questionnaires included the brief pain inventory and pain disability index. Estimates were adequately weighted for the population. From all CP subjects identified, a subsample (n = 562) accepted to participate in this economic study. Mean total annualised costs per CP subject of €1,883.30 were observed, amounting to €4,611.69 million nationally, with 42.7% direct and 57.3% indirect costs, and corresponding to 2.71% of the Portuguese annual GDP in 2010. Only socio-demographic variables were significantly and independently associated with CP costs, and not CP severity, raising the possibility of existing inequalities in the distribution of healthcare in Portugal. The high economic impact of CP in Portugal was comprehensively demonstrated. Given the high indirect costs observed, restricting healthcare services is not a rational response to these high societal costs; instead improving the quality of CP prevention and management is recommended.

Indexed as

Cost of IllnessAbsenteeismAdolescentAdultAgedChronic PainCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHealth ExpendituresHealth ServicesHumansMaleMiddle AgedModels, EconometricPersons with DisabilitiesPortugalChronic painCost of illnessCostsEconomic impactProductivity

Identifiers

PMID25416319

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.