Chronic pain treatments are failing millions, say experts

Thousands of people have contacted BBC News to reveal their battle with long-term persistent pain

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BBC One

Pain specialists have told the BBC that the health service is not set up to deal with such complex conditions and that the treatments on offer are decades behind the science.

The new survey of over 4,000 people commissioned by BBC News, carried out by Ipsos, suggests that a quarter of UK adults aged 16-75 years old (26 percent) are living with chronic pain.

Nearly half (45 percent) of those with chronic pain say it impacts their ability to carry out at least one major activity, such as working, leaving the house or socialising.

Chronic pain - pain lasting for more than three months - can be caused by a physical problem, a slipped disc for example, but can also occur with no clear cause, known as primary pain.

Results from the survey reveal that nearly a quarter of those who live with chronic pain (24 percent) are currently taking opioids which can lead to dependence and withdrawal problems. Experts suggest these drugs are not an effective treatment for chronic primary pain and shouldn’t be prescribed, though they may be appropriate for some with secondary pain.

Opioids taken by survey respondents ranged from medications such as codeine to powerful painkillers such as morphine and fentanyl.

Despite guidelines pointing to alternative methods of pain management, opioid prescribing has more than doubled between 1998 and 2018. Research by the BBC suggests that more than 40 percent of those currently using opioids for their pain began taking them over five years ago.

Dr Cathy Stannard, clinical lead on persistent pain for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) tells BBC News: “Any of us – healthcare professionals or not - would find it difficult to be accused of leaving somebody in pain.

“It is always with the best intentions that we prescribe medicines, but often it is a response to distress, rather than a rational clinical decision.”

The survey also reveals that nearly a quarter (23 percent) of people who live with chronic pain are on waiting lists for surgery or a pain-management programme.

Dr Chris Barker, clinical director of an NHS community pain service in Ainsdale, Merseyside, tells the BBC who that failings in health services are severely affecting those with chronic pain. Dr Barker says: “Incorrect diagnoses, delayed diagnoses, poor experiences in and out of the health system, not being believed - all of these can contribute to a more intense experience of pain."

4,335 people took part in the survey, which used a representative sample of adults aged 16-75 from across the UK.

As part of the investigation, BBC News speaks with a number of those living with chronic pain to gain an insight into their experiences.

Many of the thousands who contacted the BBC used words like “relentless, hell, overwhelming” to describe their experiences of chronic pain. The condition, which is often hidden, changes relationships, careers and the day to day lives of those it affects.

The full reports by Ruth Clegg & Dominic Hughes are available on BBC News online and BBC iPlayer

About

Notes to Editors

Methodology:

Research was carried out by Ipsos on behalf of BBC News. It surveyed a nationally representative quota sample of 4,435 UK adults aged 16-75 in the United Kingdom. Interviews took place on Ipsos’ online iOmnibus service between 9th and 14th March 2022. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age within gender, working status within gender, social grade within gender, as well as government office region.

Respondents were identified as suffering from chronic pain if:

  1. They selected YES when asked: “Throughout our lives, most of us have had pain from time to time (such as minor headaches, sprains, and toothaches). In the last 12 months, have you had pain other than these everyday kinds of pain?”

  2. They then selected YES when asked: “In the last 12 months, have you personally experienced any chronic pain, that is pain that has lasted longer than three months?” after being shown this text: “As you may know, chronic pain (sometimes known as long-term pain or persistent pain) is pain that lasts for more than three months. The pain can be there all the time, or it may come and go.”

  3. They then selected “Less often than once a month” or more often when asked “And how often do you currently experience chronic pain?”

Source BBC One

May 12, 2022 3:00am ET by BBC One  

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