Research Article

The Prevalence of Chronic Pain in the Adult Population in Israel: An Internet-Based Survey

Table 2

Pain characteristics of three pain intensity groups.

VASPain intensityTotal CP group-value
1-34-78-10

Number of responders (%)n = 79 (15%)n = 327(64%)n = 109 (21%)n = 515ns
Sex (%, n=515)
Male50.537.839.844.5ns
Female49.562.260.255.5ns

Duration of pain (%, n=515)
6 months12.2109.110.1ns
7-12 months20.71811.717.1ns
1-3 years22.523.421.122.8ns
3-5 years14.516.421.517.2ns
6-10 years22.627.834.928.5ns
Do not know7.54.41.64.3ns

Pain frequency (%, n=515)
Constant16.91827.719.9ns
Daily26.831.229.530.2ns
At least once a week30.431.020.228.6ns
At least once a month18.814.816.615.8ns
Less than once a month7.1565.5ns

Pain locations (%, n=485)
One location49.24239.142.5ns
Multiple locations50.85860.957.5ns

Satisfaction from pain treatment (%, n=485)
Very helpful6.28.612.99.1ns
Partially helpful30.349.554.247.5ns
Unhelpful3.67.420.49.5 < 0.001^
Not receiving any treatment59.934.512.533.9 < 0.001^

Type of medications (%, n=485)
Only OTC medication24.822.314.321ns
Only prescribed medication12.319.228.920.2ns
Both OTC and prescribed medications17.422.937.825.2 < 0.01^
No treatment based on medications45.535.619.033.7 < 0.01^

Current use of multiple prescribed medications (%, n=485)12.518.832.520.7 < 0.01^

Use of complementary medicine (%, n=485)15.332.143.231.8 < 0.01^

Current use of medical cannabis (%, n=485)3.53.35.33.7ns

Past use of medical cannabis (%, n=485)1.24.04.73.7ns

Reasons for not using previous medications (%, n=218)
Lack of effect37.553.155.951.8ns
Price34.224.524.825.8ns
CP improvement by more effective treatment28.19.97.811.7ns
Complicated treatment10.98.38.38.6ns
Too many medications47.98.77.6ns
Side effects0.04.16.74.2ns

Consulting more than a single physician for CP (%, n=515)2436.958.939.5 < 0.001^

Visit a pain clinic (%, n=485)23.737.157.839.3 < 0.001^

^ between 8 and 10 pain intensity group and each of the other two groups.