Who suffers from pain?
Nearly one in five adult Europeans suffers from chronic pain. This was revealed in a survey of 46,000 people across Europe (www.paineurope.com).
According to the survey, people with pain felt isolated, desperate and a burden to their family, friends and colleagues. One in five had lost their job and a similar number had depression because of their pain. For one in six the pain was sometimes so bad they simply wanted to die.
Chronic pain is still very much under-treated in Europe:
- One-third of patients with chronic pain are currently not being treated at all1
- One in four patients surveyed felt their doctor did not know how to control their pain properly2
- Over two-thirds of patients questioned believed that their medicine would not control their pain throughout the day2
1Breivik et al., Eur J Pain 2006
2Pain in Europe – A 2003 Report, www.paineurope.com
Last updated: 24 Apr 2009
One in four patients surveyed felt their doctor did not know how to control their pain properly
