CNBC (9/13, LaVito) reports, “Living in poverty or rural areas increases the odds of suffering from chronic pain, and one-fifth of adults in the U.S. live with the condition,” research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. Two years ago, “50 million adults, or 20.4 percent, had chronic pain, defined as pain on most days or every day in the past six months, the CDC estimates, based on self-reported data from the National Health Interview Survey.” Also in 2016, “19.6 million, or eight percent, of adults had high-impact chronic pain, which frequently limits life or work activities.”
MedPage Today (9/13, George) reports the study’s findings, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, translate “to 50 million people with chronic pain and about 20 million people with high-impact chronic pain, reported James Dahlhamer, PhD, of the CDC’s Division of Health Interview Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues.”