Chronic Pain Across the Ages

This article has explored the prevalence, epidemiology, unique pain syndromes, and impact of chronic pain across the human lifespan. Each age group and that subset of the adolescent/adult female obstetric patient is affected by factors unique to that population which govern the expression of and ultimately the treatment of pain for that group. The exact prevalence of pain conditions in each group is inexact, particu-larly for the pediatric and obstetric groups although the available evidence indicates a growing diagnosis of chronic pain across all groups. Similarly, data suggest that the use of opioid pain relievers across all populations groups has grown substantially and with that usage, the potential complications. Clearly, more research is needed to better understand the impact of chronic pain across the human lifespan and how that pain is modulated by factors that vary by region, ethnicity, education level, and income level. By better understanding the factors which govern the experience of pain across all age and population groups, it is our hope that the occurrence of an impact by chronic pain can be lessened.