2023-04-25 16:07:52
In Spain there are currently 417 hospitals They have pain units spread throughout the country. Specific, 197 of the hospitals with these units are public and form part of the National Health System (47% of the total), while the remaining 220 hospitals are privately managed (53%). Each of these hospitals offers service to an average of 113,000 citizens.
However, many people with chronic pain can spend more than 5 months waiting for treatment. The cause?
This is what the ‘Barometer of chronic pain in Spain 2022′, Developed by the Grünenthal Foundation and the Pain Observatory of the University of Cádiz, a report that has conducted 7,058 interviews with people between the ages of 18 and 85.
And, for Inmaculada Failde, director of the Pain Observatory for the University of Cádiz, the efficient response to the more than 9 million people, involves “speeding up health care.” The author of the report acknowledges that if it comes, it is true that more pain units are needed throughout the territory, there is an urgent need to “prioritize healthcare” for people with chronic pain. A person, she says, “shouldn’t be waiting 5 months for treatment.”
Chronic pain affects 25.9% of the adult population, which represents more than 9 million people
According to the researcher, only a 25% of patients arrive at a Pain Unit, although he qualifies that “not all these people have to be treated in these units”. Pain, he acknowledges, “can be treated from different specialties, which explains the complexity in its treatment.”
In fact, one of the challenges set is to maximize the training of health professionals in chronic pain disease and its therapeutic approach, from a multidisciplinary perspective and with a biopsychosocial approach to the disease.
In addition, the barometer reveals that chronic pain affects 25.9% of the adult population, which means more than 9 million people. In relation to sex, women have a higher prevalence of the disease (30.5%) compared to men (21.3%).
Regarding age, people between 55 and 75 years have the highest prevalence (30.6%), with the population between 18 and 34 years being the least affected by chronic pain (18.8%). In addition, the mean age of these patients is 51.5 years.
Make visible the impact of chronic pain and the reality of patients at the socio-sanitary and institutional level.
Promote new plans and updating existing strategies in the field of pain at the national and regional level, in accordance with new health trends.
Generate research and innovation in the field of chronic painin order to expand the supply of care resources available and modernize care models
Develop quality information and resources aimed at patients and society in general to improve knowledge of the pathology and awareness in all areas, as well as the involvement of the patient in the management of their health process and their participation in decision-making. decisions
Contribute to the formation of alliances between the different agents that have an impact on the disease.
Value the role of health professionals Primary Care and promote their training as a point of reference for the patient and coordinator of their care process.
Promote the participation of Pain Treatment Units in the care process and its adequate endowment of resources, favoring patient access.
Incorporate a new approach to pain care that takes into account the most vulnerable groups, in which the disease has a greater impact (women, the elderly, workers…).
Empower the patient and their environment as central elements of the care process, with the goal of achieving continuous care adapted to individual needs.
Maximize the training of health professionals in chronic pain disease and its therapeutic approach, from a multidisciplinary perspective and with a focus biopsychosocial of the illness.
The study also shows that patients with chronic pain suffer from the disease for an estimated period of 6.8 years and the average perceived pain intensity is 6.8 points on a scale from 0 (absence of pain) to 10 (unbearable pain). Dr. Inmaculada Failde, director of the Pain Observatory for the University of Cádiz, stresses that the study aims not only to update the information available on chronic pain and its approach, “but also to facilitate a better understanding of what pain is and what it represents.” chronic at a social, economic and health level”.
Pain usually occurs in the extremities and/or joints in 33.1% of patients
Likewise, Juan Quintana, director of the Grünenthal Foundation, has pointed out that “the data extracted from the study show the need to address the disease from a biopsychosocial perspective as a health priority with the aim of optimizing its management and improving the quality of life from the patients”.
Chronic pain is pain that occurs continuously for more than four days a week and has persisted for at least three months. It usually has a diagnosed origin, being low back pain the most common, which affects 58.1% of patients. patients. However, 27.1% do not know the cause of their disease, which makes its therapeutic approach difficult. Pain usually occurs in the extremities and/or joints in 33.1% of patients.
And it also affects the mental health: 22.2% of patients suffer from depression and 27.6% from anxiety, which shows the relevance of prevention and mental health care in the field of chronic pain.
Chronic pain conditions the patient on a physical, mental and social level. 42.1% of those affected have gone to the health services in the last month, with Primary Care being the reference service, visited by the 86.7% of patientss.
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