The following is a summary of “Problem of Pain in the United States: A Population-Based Characterization of Biopsychosocial Correlates of High Impact Chronic Pain Using the National Health Interview Survey,” published in the June 2023 issue of Pain by Falasinnu et al.

In the United States, over 20 million individuals live with high-impact chronic pain (HICP), which limits life or work activities for three months. It is crucial to distinguish individuals with HICP from those who can continue normal activities despite experiencing chronic pain. To assist clinicians and researchers in identifying those with HICP, they will develop models that identify factors associated with HICP using the 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and evaluate the performance of these models overall and by sociodemographic subgroups (gender, age, and race/ethnicity). 

Included in their analysis were 32,980 respondents. Using the entire sample, they fitted logistic regression models with LASSO (a parametric model) and random forest (a nonparametric model) to predict HICP. Each model performed admirably. The most significant factors associated with HICP were those related to underlying illness (arthritis and rheumatism, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits) and psychological distress. These factors can identify subgroups at higher risk for HICP screening. In future work, they will externally validate these findings. 

Future research must longitudinally predict the onset and maintenance of HICP to prevent HICP and direct patients to the most effective treatments. Using the 2016 National Health Interview Survey, their research used statistical models to identify factors associated with high-impact chronic pain (HICP). The factors related to HICP were consistent by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Understanding these risk factors is essential for identifying populations and individuals at the highest risk for developing HICP and improving access to interventions aimed at these high-risk subgroups.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526590023003681