Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, 115 Heart Dr, Mail Stop 660, Greenville, NC 27834. Email:
Prev Chronic Dis. 2021 Feb 18;18:E13. doi: 10.5888/pcd18.200352.
Our study aimed to examine the prevalence of chronic pain, its severity, its causes, and coping mechanisms that are used by North Carolina adults in rural, suburban, and urban areas.
We analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System's first chronic pain module in 2018, representing 3,598 respondents. Self-reported chronic pain was defined as the affirmative response to the question, "Do you suffer from any type of chronic pain, that is, pain that occurs constantly or flares up often?" We computed prevalence of chronic pain and use of coping mechanisms by rural, suburban, or urban residential status. We used multiple logistic regression to assess the association between chronic pain and residential location, adjusting for demographic characteristics, employment, and health insurance.
In 2018, an estimated 27.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25.6%-29.3%) of North Carolina adults experienced chronic pain. Prevalence of chronic pain in rural areas (30.9%) and suburban areas (30.8%) was significantly higher, compared with urban areas (19.6%). Compared with urban residents with chronic pain, those with chronic pain in suburban areas (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.44; 95% CI, 0.26-0.76) and in rural areas (AOR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.24-0.65) were less likely to use nonmedication therapies (eg, acupuncture, physical therapy, yoga) and were less likely to use 3 or more types of chronic pain treatment (suburban AOR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.25-0.88; rural AOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29-0.95).
Our results indicate that persons living in rural and suburban areas may be more likely to have chronic pain and less likely to use nonmedication treatments than those in urban areas.
我们的研究旨在调查北卡罗来纳州农村、郊区和城市成年人慢性疼痛的流行率、严重程度、病因以及应对机制。
我们分析了 2018 年行为风险因素监测系统首次慢性疼痛模块的数据，该数据代表了 3598 名受访者。自我报告的慢性疼痛定义为对以下问题的肯定回答：“你是否患有任何类型的慢性疼痛，即经常持续或经常发作的疼痛？”我们根据农村、郊区或城市居住状况计算了慢性疼痛的流行率和应对机制的使用情况。我们使用多变量逻辑回归来评估慢性疼痛与居住地点之间的关联，并调整了人口统计学特征、就业和健康保险。
2018 年，估计有 27.5%（95%置信区间[CI]，25.6%-29.3%）的北卡罗来纳州成年人患有慢性疼痛。农村地区（30.9%）和郊区（30.8%）的慢性疼痛患病率明显高于城市地区（19.6%）。与城市地区慢性疼痛患者相比，郊区（调整后的优势比[OR]，0.44；95%CI，0.26-0.76）和农村地区（OR，0.39；95%CI，0.24-0.65）慢性疼痛患者使用非药物疗法（如针灸、物理治疗、瑜伽）的可能性较小，使用 3 种或以上类型慢性疼痛治疗的可能性较小（郊区 OR，0.47；95%CI，0.25-0.88；农村 OR，0.53；95%CI，0.29-0.95）。
我们的研究结果表明，与城市地区的人相比，居住在农村和郊区的人可能更容易患有慢性疼痛，并且更有可能不使用非药物治疗。
