The prevalence and management of chronic pain in the Chinese population: findings from the China Pain Health Index (2020)

Yingying Jiang; Tingling Xu; Fan Mao; Yu Miao; Botao Liu; Liyuan Xu; Lingni Li; Nikoletta Sternbach; Maigeng Zhou; Bifa Fan

doi:10.1186/s12963-022-00297-0

The prevalence and management of chronic pain in the Chinese population: findings from the China Pain Health Index (2020)

Popul Health Metr. 2022 Nov 4;20(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12963-022-00297-0.

Authors

Yingying Jiang¹, Tingling Xu², Fan Mao², Yu Miao³, Botao Liu³, Liyuan Xu³, Lingni Li⁴, Nikoletta Sternbach⁵, Maigeng Zhou², Bifa Fan³

Affiliations

¹ National Center for Chronic and Non-Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China. jiangyingying@ncncd.chinacdc.cn.
² National Center for Chronic and Non-Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
³ China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁴ Kantar China, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Kantar US, New York, USA.

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain is a common disease; about 20% of people worldwide suffer from it. While compared with the research on the prevalence and management of chronic pain in developed countries, there is a relative lack of research in this field in China. This research aims to construct the China Pain Health Index (CPHI) to evaluate the current status of the prevalence and management of chronic pain in the Chinese population.

Methods: The dimensions and indicators of CPHI were determined through literature review, Delphi method, and analytical hierarchy process model, and the original values of relevant indicators were obtained by collecting multi-source data. National and sub-provincial scores of CPHI (2020) were calculated by co-directional transformation, standardization, percentage transformation of the aggregate, and weighted summation.

Results: The highest CPHI score in 2020 is Beijing, and the lowest is Tibet. The top five provinces are Beijing (67.64 points), Shanghai (67.04 points), Zhejiang (65.74 points), Shandong (61.16 points), and Tianjin (59.99 points). The last five provinces are Tibet (33.10 points), Ningxia (37.24 points), Guizhou (39.85 points), Xinjiang (39.92 points), and Hainan (40.38 points). The prevalence of chronic pain is severe in Heilongjiang, Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Fujian. Guizhou, Hainan, Xinjiang, Beijing, and Guangdong display a high burden of chronic pain. The five provinces of Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang have better treatment for chronic pain, while Tibet, Qinghai, Jilin, Ningxia, and Xinjiang have a lower quality of treatment. Beijing, Shanghai, Qinghai, Guangxi, and Hunan have relatively good development of chronic pain disciplines, while Tibet, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Guizhou are relatively poor.

Conclusion: The economically developed provinces in China have higher CPHI scores, while economically underdeveloped areas have lower scores. The current pain diagnosis and treatment situation in economically developed regions is relatively good, while that in financially underdeveloped areas is rather poor. According to the variations in the prevalence and management of chronic pain among populations in different provinces in China, it is necessary to implement chronic pain intervention measures adapted to local conditions.

Keywords: China Pain Health Index study (CPHI); Chronic pain; Evaluation; Population.

MeSH terms

China / epidemiology
Chronic Pain* / epidemiology
Chronic Pain* / therapy
Humans
Prevalence