Chronic Pain

Goal: Reduce chronic pain and misuse of prescription pain relievers.

About 1 in 12 adults in the United States have high-impact chronic pain.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on helping people with high-impact chronic pain safely manage their pain and reduce its impact. 

Chronic pain can last for weeks, months, or even years. It’s linked to anxiety and depression, and it can limit people’s ability to work or do other activities. It’s also one of the most common reasons people see a health care provider. Strategies to help people manage chronic pain include physical therapy and interventions to increase physical activity.

Both non-opioid and opioid medications are also used to treat chronic pain. People who take opioids are at risk for many adverse effects, including opioid misuse. Improving opioid prescribing practices, increasing safe disposal of unused opioids, and increasing the use of non-opioid medications can help reduce opioid misuse.

Objective Status

  • 1 Target met or exceeded
  • 1 Improving
  • 1 Little or no detectable change
  • 0 Getting worse
  • 1 Baseline only
  • 2 Developmental
  • 0 Research

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References

1.

Dahlhamer, J., et al. (2018). Prevalence of Chronic Pain and High-Impact Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(36), 1001-1006.