Increasing pain prevalence and intensity among middle-aged and older adults: Evidence from the German Ageing Survey

Pain is a very common chronic condition in late life that is associated with poorer quality of life and greater functional restrictions. Little is known regarding temporal trends in pain prevalence and pain intensity. Therefore, we estimated trends in pain prevalence and intensity over time among German middle-aged and older adults. We used two independent samples drawn in different years from the German Ageing Survey, which is a nationwide population-representative study with a cohort-sequential design. Specifically, a sample of individuals aged 40–85 years who were assessed in 2008 (n = 5961) was compared with a sample of individuals with the same age range who were assessed in 2014 (n = 5809). Individuals were asked if and to what extent they had experienced constant or recurrent pain within the past four weeks. χ2 tests and regression analyses were computed. In 2008, about 44% of all individuals reported suffering from at least very mild pain. In 2014, this proportion was higher by about 7%. Controlling for chronological age, gender, education, region of residence (West vs. East Germany), depressive symptoms, chronic diseases, BMI, and physical activity, the difference in pain prevalence and pain intensity between the samples remained statistically significant. Our data suggest an increase in the prevalence and intensity of pain among middle-aged and older German adults between 2008 and 2014, which remained statistically significant when controlling for socio-demographic and health-related indicators. Further research is needed to identify the factors underlying this increasing pain prevalence and pain intensity in order to counteract this negative temporal trend. •A temporal trend toward a higher pain prevalence and intensity was observed•Pain prevalence and intensity among German middle-aged and older adults increased•This trend remained significant when adjusting for various covariates•More research is needed to identify the reasons for increasing pain