Chronic Pain: Psychological and Behavioral Factors

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines chronic pain as pain that persists past the healing phase following an injury. A common [Page 648]clinical definition of chronic pain is pain that has persisted for more than 6 months. In 2011, an international study of the 12-month prevalence of chronic pain found that 37% of people in developed countries and 41% of people in developing countries reported chronic pain. Within the United States, the Institute of Medicine estimates that 116 million adults in the United States experience some form of chronic pain. Decades of research has demonstrated that chronic pain has a negative impact on health, quality of life, mood, physical functioning, and work productivity. The costs of adult chronic pain in the United ...