The pain epidemic: some proposed solutions

In Taylor's study, musculoskeletal pain was associated with impaired health-related quality of life scores comparable with complicated diabetes mellitus, chronic liver disease prior to liver transplantation, and terminal cancer. A strong association occurs between pain-related disability and the greater use of health services.7 Chronic pain creates a major public health problem impacting negatively on the quality-of-life issues and healthcare costs.5 The latest prevalence study of chronic pain was performed in the Norwegian population. [...]there exists a paucity of training in Pain Medicine in the undergraduate health science programme.