ArticleDemography2021
Pain Trends Among American Adults, 2002-2018: Patterns, Disparities, and Correlates.
Article in Demography, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 115 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
115 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 218 citations in OpenAlex.
- Virtual Reality for Chronic Pain Management Among Historically Marginalized Populations: Systematic Review of Usability Studies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Krill Oil Supplementation for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Older Adults.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Too Insensitive to Care: Alcohol Increases Human Aggression by Increasing Pain Threshold.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2025Trial
- Generalized joint hypermobility and neck pain: Prevalence and functional correlates from a community-based sample.Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon) · 2026Article
- Association Between Sedentary Behavior and the Development of New-Onset Chronic Pain in Older American Adults: Insights From the Health and Retirement Study.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2026Article
- The Prospective Association Between Life Satisfaction and Physical Pain: Evidence From Longitudinal and Cohort Data.Personality & social psychology bulletin · 2026Article
- [Relationship Between Pain and Depressive Symptoms in Middle-aged and Older Chinese Adults: A Cross-Lagged Longitudinal Analysis].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2026Article
- Machine Learning-Derived Neural Signatures of Itch and Pain That Reliably Distinguish the Two Sensations in Humans: A Proof-Of-Concept Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Predicting the course of high-impact chronic pain using machine learning algorithms.The journal of pain · 2026Article
- Which is More Predictive of Mortality-Pain Severity or Pain Interference? Evidence from 20-Year Longitudinal Data.The journal of pain · 2026Observational
- Country-level gender inequality and sex disparities in adolescent chronic pain: A 47-country analysis.Preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Educational Disparities in Disability in Mid- to Late-Life: How Much is Attributable to Pain?Journal of aging and health · 2026Article
- Beyond pain presence: the impact of multisite pain and pain interference on cognitive functioning among middle-aged and older adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Exploring chronic pain: demographic and social determinants of health insights in Maine.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Age-specific trends in limitations of daily activities in American adults aged 50-84 by race and ethnicity, 2000-2018.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Referral Pattern Changes Over a Decade in a Tertiary Neuro-Ophthalmology Clinic.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
55 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Determining long-term trends in chronic pain prevalence is critical for evaluating and shaping U.S. health policies, but little research has examined such trends. This study (1) provides estimates of pain trends among U.S. adults across major population groups; (2) tests whether sociodemographic disparities in pain have widened or narrowed over time; and (3) examines socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and medical correlates of pain trends. Regression and decomposition analyses of joint, low back, neck, facial/jaw pain, and headache/migraine using the 2002-2018 National Health Interview Survey for adults aged 25-84 (N = 441,707) assess the trends and their correlates. We find extensive escalation of pain prevalence in all population subgroups: overall, reports of pain in at least one site increased by 10%, representing an additional 10.5 million adults experiencing pain. Socioeconomic disparities in pain are widening over time, and psychological distress and health behaviors are among the salient correlates of the trends. This study thus comprehensively documents rising pain prevalence among Americans across the adult life span and highlights socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological factors as important correlates of the trends. Chronic pain is an important dimension of population health, and demographic research should include it when studying health and health disparities.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.