Economic Burden of Chronic Pain Across Europe

Abstract

An economic analysis of costs attributable to chronic pain in various European countries is presented. Costs include those to patients and their caregivers, health care systems, and the economy. Estimated health care expenditures for chronic pain patients in nine European countries are provided.

Frequency and characteristics of healthcare visits associated with chronic pain: results from a population-based Canadian study

“…The median [IQR] number of visits to a physician's office was 3 [1][2][3][4][5], and the median number of visits to an emergency department (0 [0-0] visits) or ''other'' health professional (0 [0-5] visits) was zero in the past year (Table 2). Participants with chronic pain were more likely to be frequent visitors (C 90th percentile) to all health settings compared with those without chronic pain.…”

“…2 Considerable costs accrue with healthcare visits (e.g., primary care physicians, specialists, and urgent care) as well as with hospitalization, medication, and other therapies. 3,4 In Canada, hospitals, medications, and physicians represent the three largest sources of healthcare costs for chronic pain care, with total physician costs exceeding $20 billion in 2010 and continuing to grow. 5 When healthcare use and resulting costs are compared between individuals living with chronic pain and non-pain controls, those with chronic pain consistently report high use, [6][7][8][9] resulting in an estimated doubling of direct medical costs.…”

Chronic widespread pain prevalence in the general population: A systematic review

“…CWP and FMS can place significant challenges onto the healthcare system, and inconsistent messages exist within the literature with regard to the most effective diagnosis and management strategies (Lee et al, 2014). Living with CWP can have significant cost implications to not only the government but also the individual patient in terms of lost work, benefits and medical costs (Barham, 2012;Gaskin and Richard, 2012;Henschke et al, 2015). In Europe approximately 1.5-3.0% of their annual gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on chronic pain (Barham, 2012;Gaskin and Richard, 2012).…”

Parental chronic widespread pain and the association with chronic widespread pain in adult offspring: Family‐linkage data from the Norwegian HUNT Study

“…Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a substantial contributor to disability and high healthcare costs in many countries (Barham, 2012;Henschke et al, 2015;Vos et al, 2015). The economic burden of chronic musculoskeletal pain is enormous, with the total costs of low back pain estimated at ₤12 billion for the United Kingdom (Maniadakis and Gray, 2000), and up to €300 billion for the whole of Europe (Wenig et al, 2009).…”