BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of chronic pain is poorly understood due to a paucity of longitudinal studies limiting the ability to develop prevention strategies for a condition resistant to many current therapies.OBJECTIVES: To identify the incidence of and sociodemographic risk factors for chronic pain in Canadian women and men over a 12-year period.METHODS: Using data from the National Population Health Survey, individuals who developed chronic pain, defined as the presence of “usual pain” were identified. The cumulative incidence of chronic pain was calculated separately for men and women followed from 1994 to 2007. Biannual incidence and prevalence estimates of chronic pain were calculated during the same time period. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine predictors of chronic pain in men and women.RESULTS: The cumulative incidence over the 12-year period was 35.6% (women 39.0%; men 32.2%). Women had a higher biannual prevalence, but not incidence, of chronic pain compared with men. In women, being older, having lower education and being widowed, separated or divorced, increased the risk of chronic pain. There were no sociodemographic risk factors for chronic pain in men.CONCLUSION: Women had a higher prevalence – but not incidence – of chronic pain compared with men, indicative of longer duration of illness in women. Risk factors also differed according to sex, supporting current literature reporting potentially different mechanisms for men and women. A better understanding of risk factors is necessary to develop population-based preventive interventions. The former can only be achieved with population-based, longitudinal studies.

中文翻译：

---

1994年至2007年间加拿大男性和女性的慢性疼痛流行病学：国家人口健康调查纵向成分的结果

背景：由于缺乏纵向研究，因此对慢性疼痛的流行病学了解甚少，这限制了针对多种当前疗法产生抗药性的疾病的预防策略的制定能力。目的：确定加拿大女性慢性疼痛的发生率和社会人口统计学危险因素方法：使用国家人口健康调查的数据，确定患有慢性疼痛（定义为“通常的疼痛”）的人。从1994年至2007年分别计算了男性和女性的慢性疼痛的累积发生率。在同一时间段内，计算了慢性疼痛的双年度发生率和患病率。使用Logistic回归分析检查男性和女性慢性疼痛的预测因子。在过去的12年中，累积发病率为35.6％（女性39.0％；男性32.2％）。与男性相比，女性每两年两次的慢性疼痛患病率更高，但没有发生率。在女性中，年龄较大，受教育程度较低，丧偶，分居或离婚，会增加患上慢性疼痛的风险。没有社会统计学的男性慢性疼痛危险因素。结论：与男性相比，女性的慢性疼痛患病率更高，但没有发病率，这表明女性患病时间更长。危险因素也因性别而异，支持目前的文献报道了男性和女性潜在的不同机制。对风险因素的更好理解对于开发基于人群的预防干预措施是必要的。前者只能通过基于人口的纵向研究来实现。