Florida Pain Survey
Summary

Objectives

• FPI commissioned the Florida Pain Survey to gauge public attitudes toward the pain epidemic and to measure the impact pain has on sufferers and their families. This is the first time an extensive statewide study on pain has been conducted in Florida.

• FPI released the findings of the study to highlight their “Power Over Pain” campaign, which coincides with the designation of September as “Pain Awareness Month.”

• An organization consisting of a wide range of healthcare professionals, FPI launched the statewide grassroots campaign to publicize the epidemic of undertreated pain as a major public health issue and make effective pain management a healthcare priority at the state and local levels.

• The Florida Pain Survey was underwritten by the American Pain Foundation (APF) and the American Alliance for Cancer Pain Initiatives (AACPI). APF and AACPI are national partners in the “Power Over Pain” campaign, a statewide project of the Florida Pain Initiative in collaboration with the Florida Division of the American Cancer Society.

• The telephone survey was conducted by Susan Schuler and Associates, Inc., of Tampa. A total of 735 Florida households were randomly selected between August 12 - 24, 2003.

Impact

Floridians are substantially more likely to suffer from chronic or recurrent pain than the national average. In Florida, 75 percent of respondents said they suffer pain on at least a monthly basis compared to 57 percent of Americans who responded similarly in a recently released national survey. (The national figures were reported in a Research America! survey released in early September.)

• The greater percentage of Floridians pain sufferers could be a result of the state’s sizeable senior population.
• However, the survey found that individuals reporting chronic or recurrent pain were distributed across all age groups, with respondents between 30 and 49 years of age representing the largest percentage of sufferers.

The survey confirms that Florida has a pain epidemic. In total, the Florida Pain Survey found that four out of five Florida households had a member who experienced at least monthly pain.

• More than a third of all sufferers described their pain as moderate to severe.
• Incidents of pain sufferers were reported across all demographics. Young and old, rich and poor and across every region of the state, the survey demonstrates that sometimes debilitating pain does not discriminate.

Pain is of particular concern in Florida because of the state’s substantial senior population. In the Florida Pain Survey, the severity of the pain reported by respondents increased with age.

• 34 percent of all pain sufferers described their pain as moderate to severe or severe.
• 38 percent of pain sufferers age 50 to 64 described their pain as moderate to severe or severe.
• And 47 percent of those over 65 described their pain as moderate to severe or severe.

Undertreatment of Pain

The Florida Pain Survey suggests considerable numbers of pain sufferers are not having their ailment effectively treated.

• One in five pain sufferers has not seen a physician.
• Among all Floridians a majority agree that people do not seek treatment because they believe the pain will go away by itself, they are embarrassed and don’t want to seem like they are complaining, or they don’t know where to go for help.

The survey demonstrates that the undertreatment of pain has serious physiological, psychological and social consequences for sufferers. Of those who say they personally experience pain:

• 65 percent say it causes them to feel anxious, irritable or depressed.
• 62 percent say it prevents them from doing some of the things they once enjoyed.
• 61 percent say it causes them to lose sleep.
• 42 percent say it interferes with their ability to work and be productive.
• 25 percent say it sometimes leaves them feeling hopeless and/or alone.
• 25 percent say it interferes with their sexual relations.
• 23 percent say it interferes with their ability to do everyday things.

There is also a stigma associated with pain. Many people with pain are fearful or embarrassed to let their families, friends and even their physicians know they are in pain because they don’t want to appear weak or believe pain is just something you need to accept.

• 76 percent of all Floridians believe the pain will go away by itself.
• 66 percent believe pain is just a normal part of aging.
• 58 percent don’t know where to go for help.
• 58 percent don’t think of pain as being a separate condition.
• 57 percent don’t want to seem like they are complaining.

Whole Families Affected

Pain not only alters the life of a sufferer, but it affects entire families.

• More than three-quarters of Floridians interviewed with a pain sufferer in the family said the sufferer becomes more irritable and that it hurts relationships with family members.
• More than half of those same respondents said that pain has altered the sufferer’s outlook on life and they are not as positive about things as they once were.