Self-reported bodily pain rises most sharply before age 55 globally, with female participants reporting a higher pain burden across every studied site among more than six million individuals across 118 countries.
Self-reported bodily pain follows distinct non-linear trajectories across the human lifespan according to a comprehensive analysis published in Nature Medicine. The steepest rises in pain prevalence occur during working-age adulthood, before individuals turn 55.
The research synthesized individual participant data from population-based health studies, national surveys, and international cohorts conducted between 1990 and 2025. The final analytic dataset captured 6,125,459 individuals aged 5 to over 100 years across 118 countries and territories.
Pain Peaks Early at Specific Bodily Sites
The global lifespan curves demonstrate that pain is not a single epidemiological phenomenon. Different bodily sites and clinical presentations follow divergent paths from childhood into late adulthood.
Headaches, abdominal pain, and facial pain peak earlier in life. Conversely, musculoskeletal complaints generally progress alongside advancing age. In contrast, lower body pain affecting the back, hips, and knees continues to increase across the lifespan.
Lower Development Regions Experience Higher Late-Life Pain Prevalence
By age 80 and beyond, overall pain prevalence was roughly 31 percentage points higher in lower-development countries compared to higher-development regions, while low back pain was nearly twice as common. Individuals residing in areas with lower Human Development Index scores experience substantially higher late-life prevalence of bodily pain according to public health findings derived from the dataset.
Standard modifiable risk factors—such as smoking, obesity, and low household income—explained only a portion of this divide, leaving researchers uncertain about the remaining drivers.
Across all 11 bodily sites examined, women reported higher pain prevalence than men. This gender gap was especially pronounced for headaches, abdominal pain, and facial pain. Matt Fillingim, a data scientist and researcher at McGill University who served as lead author, and his colleagues mapped these widespread differences through their international working group.
Pain also rises most steeply before age 55, during women’s working, caring and reproductive years. It is strong evidence that the gender pain gap is real, consistent and global.
Professor Andrew Horne, Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh
Risk Factors Drive Worldwide Pain Burden
Smoking, obesity, and low household income together accounted for 18.3% of global pain, with regional figures ranging from 12.6% in sub-Saharan Africa up to 27.1% in eastern Europe. Smoking accounted for 6.6% of pain in Oceania, compared with 2.5% in sub-Saharan Africa and 8.5% in eastern Europe, whereas obesity was responsible for 11.2% of pain, versus 2.7% in central and southern Asia and 14.6% in North America.
Most underlying data came from cross-sectional measurements captured at a single point in time across different age groups, rather than tracking identical participants longitudinally over decades.
For readers looking at practical steps, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active, and addressing symptoms properly when they first appear rather than waiting may offer meaningful benefits well before reaching older age. Anyone experiencing persistent or concerning symptoms should consult qualified medical professionals for personalised evaluation and guidance rather than relying on general population findings.