How Much Money Is Spent On Chronic Pain

FRIDAY, Sept. xiv (HealthDay News) -- Americans spend equally much equally $635 billion each year on the direct and indirect costs associated with chronic pain, co-ordinate to a new written report.

That's more than the almanac costs associated with cancer, eye affliction and diabetes, said written report authors Darrell Gaskin and Patrick Richard, health economists at Johns Hopkins University. They based their estimate on health intendance costs and lost worker productivity associated with chronic hurting.

The researches analyzed the 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to measure the incremental wellness care costs for people affected past chronic pain -- including pain that interferes with work, joint hurting, arthritis and disabilities -- and compared them to costs for people without chronic hurting. The report involved more than 20,200 U.S. adults.

The costs of certain weather were calculated for a variety of payers of health care services, the researchers noted.

The written report, published in the Journal of Pain, institute average health care costs for adults were $4,475. People suffering from moderate pain paid $4,516 more than in wellness intendance costs than those without pain, the researchers said. Patients with severe hurting spent $3,210 more than than people with but moderate pain. Costs were also $4,048 college for those with articulation pain, $5,838 higher for people with arthritis and $9,680 more for those with functional disabilities.

When prevalence of pain weather was assessed, moderate hurting accounted for x percent, astringent hurting accounted for 11 pct and inability represented 12 percent. Estimates for joint pain and arthritis were higher. They accounted for 33 percent and 25 percent of prevalence estimates, respectively.

The researchers noted that adults affected by chronic pain missed more workdays than people without pain. This affected their annual hours worked and hourly wages. The report concluded the total cost associated with pain in the The states was at least $560 billion and maybe equally high as $635 billion, according to a release from the American Pain Society.

Broken down, the total incremental costs of health care resulting from chronic hurting ranged from $261 billion to $300 billion. And the costs associated with lost productivity ranged from $299 billion to $334 billion. Although the per-person price of pain is less than the cost of other diseases, the researchers said the total toll of chronic pain is higher. They said the costs associated with chronic pain would be even greater if they took into business relationship nursing home residents, military personnel, prisoners, children and caregivers.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas