Persistent pain: a costly pain to bear
"Persistent pain is one of the most costly healthcare problems in Australia with one in five Australian adults suffering from the condition. The human cost on individuals and families is also significant since many of these Australians bear more than half the cost themselves. Now that we know the cost of pain, we can take positive steps towards improving the lives of Australians living with persistent pain." Dr Christine Bennett, MBF's Chief Medical Officer.
Why do we need to measure the cost of persistent pain?
The MBF Foundation in collaboration with the University of Sydney's Pain Medicine Research Institute (PMRI) commissioned Access Economics to determine the cost of persistent pain because although we believed it was important for an enormous number of people, until now there has been no data on the broader impact or cost of pain.
Their research shows that about one in five Australian adults suffers from persistent pain - and this translates into 36.5 million days per year of lost work days, making it one of the most costly healthcare problems in Australia.
The human cost on individuals and families is just as significant.
The MBF Foundation and PMRI believes that once we know the cost of pain, we would then be able to show why it needs to be a higher national health priority and a national response to the problem could be coordinated.
Findings from the study will be used to identify the best ways to manage the condition, save healthcare dollars through more effective management, but most importantly - help patients be more productive and enjoy life.
What is the cost of persistent pain in Australia?
The MBF Foundation study revealed that the annual cost of pain is a massive $34.3 billion. This is nearly $11,000 for each of the estimated 3.2 million people that have to deal with almost daily persistent pain.
The study also found that people with persistent pain have to bear more than half of the cost burden themselves.
It also suggested that a big chunk of the $7 billion spent directly by the health system could be saved if pain was better managed.
What are the main causes of pain?
- Lower back pain
- Headache and migraine
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Post surgical pain
- Injury (more common in men)
- Work related accidents
A third (33%) of people can't identify an event that caused their pain.
Pain can result in sleep deprivation, depression, irritability, fatigue and can also affect personal and social relationships.
Pain also has a significant impact on a person's ability to work effectively or at all. This imposes real costs on the economy as well as upon the individual.
What does the Report recommend about pain?
- Pain is best managed by a team of health care providers.
- There needs to be more support for employers to assist with employee retention - information, resources, options for workplace modifications which would encourage employers to retain jobs for workers affected by pain.
- Employers could offer better job flexibility, which would increase productivity.
- People with pain shouldn't wait to see a doctor. Early assessment and intervention is important.
- Funding for carers is needed - particularly for better education and services.
- More attention needs to be paid to lower socio-economic groups (eg those living in regional areas, older people, people from non-english speaking backgrounds) as these groups are more likely to suffer from persistent pain.
- More funding for pain research is needed to better understand the problem, evaluate treatments and diminish the consequences of persistent pain.
Some interesting facts about persistent pain from the Report:
- There are more women who suffer from pain than men (54%)
- Women in the 50 - 54 age bracket have the greatest prevalence - eg migraine, post-surgery pain such as breast removal after cancer
- Men in the 55 - 59 age bracket have the greatest prevalence
- Prevalence will increase as the population ages since older people are more likely to suffer persistent pain.
- Males experience a higher number of days away from work and are less effective at work if they suffer from persistent pain.
- Males with chronic pain are more than twice as likely to report being involved in litigation than females.
- There is little information about pain for employers on managing employees with persistent pain. Workplace adaptation and job redesign is a significant problem
- A surprising number of children and adolescents suffer from persistent pain, which has a lasting effect because their level of education suffers.
- Pain relief must not be the only goal. Treatments need to be addressed.
- Recent major advances in basic research have identified key components of the nervous system changes that occur with chronic pain. This has already resulted in new types of drugs and new directions for targeting the "disease process" and not just the symptoms.
- Only 30.9% of people with chronic pain are in full-time employment, compared to 42.8% of people without persistent pain.
For information about managing chronic pain, please click here