scholarly journals Pain Trends Among American Adults, 2002–2018: Patterns, Disparities, and Correlates

Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zajacova ◽  
Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk ◽  
Zachary Zimmer

Abstract Determining long-term trends in chronic pain prevalence is critical for evaluating and shaping U.S. health policies, but little research has examined such trends. This study (1) provides estimates of pain trends among U.S. adults across major population groups; (2) tests whether sociodemographic disparities in pain have widened or narrowed over time; and (3) examines socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and medical correlates of pain trends. Regression and decomposition analyses of joint, low back, neck, facial/jaw pain, and headache/migraine using the 2002–2018 National Health Interview Survey for adults aged 25–84 (N  =  441,707) assess the trends and their correlates. We find extensive escalation of pain prevalence in all population subgroups: overall, reports of pain in at least one site increased by 10%, representing an additional 10.5 million adults experiencing pain. Socioeconomic disparities in pain are widening over time, and psychological distress and health behaviors are among the salient correlates of the trends. This study thus comprehensively documents rising pain prevalence among Americans across the adult life span and highlights socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological factors as important correlates of the trends. Chronic pain is an important dimension of population health, and demographic research should include it when studying health and health disparities.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zajacova ◽  
Hanna Grol-Prokopcyzk ◽  
Zachary Zimmer

Determining long-term trends in chronic pain prevalence is critical for evaluating and shaping US health policies, but little research has examined such trends. This study (1) provides estimates of pain trends among US adults across major population groups; (2) tests whether sociodemographic disparities in pain have widened or narrowed over time; and (3) examines socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and medical correlates of pain trends. Regression and decomposition analyses of joint, low-back, neck, migraine, and jaw/facial pain using the 2002-2018 National Health Interview Survey for adults aged 25-84 (N=441,707) assess the trends and their correlates. We find extensive escalation of pain prevalence in all population subgroups: overall, reports of pain in at least one site increased by 10%, representing an additional 10.5 million adults experiencing pain. Socioeconomic disparities are widening over time, and psychological distress and health behaviors are among the salient correlates of the trends. This study thus comprehensively documents rising pain prevalence among Americans across the adult life span and highlights socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological factors as important correlates of the trends. Chronic pain is an important dimension of population health and demographic research should include it when studying health and health disparities.


Author(s):  
Edda Humprecht ◽  
Linards Udris

The way news is produced and consumed has changed dramatically during the first two decades of the 21st century due to digitalization and economic pressures. In a globalized world, current events are reported in almost real time in various countries and are diffused rapidly via social media. Thus much scholarly attention is devoted to determining whether these developments have changed news content. Comparative research in the area of journalism focuses on whether news content across countries converges over time and to what degree national differences persist across countries. When studying the research on long-term trends in news content, three main observations can be made. First, theoretical assumptions are often rooted in different models of democracies, but they are rarely explicitly discussed. Second, many studies focus on the organizational level using theoretical concepts related to increased market orientation of news outlets, such as personalization, emotionalization, or scandalization. Furthermore, commercialization is associated with the effects of digitalization and globalization, namely, decreased advertising revenues and increased competition. A commonly expressed fear is that these changes have consequences for democracy and informed citizenship. Third, in recent years, there has been a steady increase of studies employing international comparisons as well as a growing standardization for measurements. These developments lead to more multicountry studies based on large samples but come at the expense of more fine-grained analysis of the way news content changes over time. Finally, the vast majority of cross-national and single-country studies focus on Western democracies. Thus our knowledge about recent changes in news content is limited to a small set of countries. Overall, many studies provide evidence for constant changes of news content driven by social, political, and economic developments. However, different media systems exhibit a sustained resilience toward transnational pressures reflected in a persistence of national differences in news content over time.


Author(s):  
T. Gagné ◽  
I. Schoon ◽  
A. McMunn ◽  
A. Sacker

Abstract Purpose In Great Britain, few studies documented mental health trends in young adults in the years preceding 2020, the mental health dimensions affected, and how these compare with changes observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Long-term trends in mental health among 16–34 year old men and women between 1991 and 2018, and changes between 2018–19 and July–September 2020 were examined using all waves from the British Household Panel Study (1991–2008), the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009–20), and the first five UKHLS COVID-19 waves administered in April, May, June, July, and September 2020. Findings are based on the GHQ-12 continuous score (0–36), clinically significant cases (4 + /12) and severe cases (7 + /12) for mental distress, and item endorsements. Results Between 1991 and 2018, the prevalence of cases (4 + /12) increased from 14–22% to 19–32% across groups. Increases were largest in women aged 16–24. In April 2020, the risk of caseness (4 + /12) increased across groups by 55% to 80% compared to the 2018–19 baseline. This increase, however, rapidly diminished over time: in July–September 2020, there was only a higher risk of caseness (4 + /12) in men aged 25–34 (prevalence ratio = 1.29, 95% CI 1.01–1.65) compared to the 2018–19 baseline. Conclusion Whereas distress surged in April 2020, its return to pre-pandemic levels by September 2020 highlights the nuanced impact that the pandemic may have over time. Given the magnitude of the decline in mental health over the past decade, attention must be given to young adults once the pandemic ends.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1047-1056
Author(s):  
Brian W. Haas ◽  
Michelle R. vanDellen

Cultural context can affect how changes in self-concepts are either valued or tolerated. However, very little is currently known regarding how culture may differentially confer consequences to people that change their self-concepts over the course of several years. We investigated the moderating role of culture (Japan and USA) on the link between long-term (∼4 years) self-concept changes and a comprehensive set of well-being measures (hedonic, eudaimonic, and family based). We found that American’s self-concept instability was more negatively associated with one’s well-being and emotional support within one’s family than Japanese. Furthermore, Americans were particularly negatively impacted when they became less agentic and conscientious over time. One possible interpretation is that Western, individualistic cultures may discourage people from changing their identities throughout their adult life. Although American culture often espouses the sanctity of freedom, American culture may also limit people’s freedom to change how they see themselves over time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Young ◽  
Bhasker Amatya ◽  
Mary P. Galea ◽  
Fary Khan

AbstractBackground and purposePain is a common symptom associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and has lasting effects on an individual’s functional capacity and quality of life. A wide range of prevalence rates of pain (between 23% and 90%)have been reported in MS and this is mainly due to the methodological differences amongst the studies such as variability in patient sources, method of sampling and the definition of pain used. Chronic pain in MS, defined as pain lasting for greater than 3–6 months, can have a significant impact on their biopsychosocial health, including negative impact on activities of daily living, relationships and social participation. The long-term course of MS-related pain and its impact in an Australian cohort over a 7-year period has been investigated earlier. The aim of this longitudinal study was to describe the impact of chronic pain, pain-related disability and carer burden in persons with MS over a 10-year period. The aim of this longitudinal study was to describe the impact of chronic pain, pain-related disability and carer burden in persons with MS over a 10-year period.MethodsThis was a prospective longitudinal study conducted at the Rehabilitation Department of Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), a tertiary referral hospital in Victoria and Australia. The source of participants was from the RMH MS database and contains detailed MS patient information including demographic data, diagnosis details (using McDonald’s criteria), pain characteristics. Structured face-face interviews and validated measures were used, which include the visual analogue scale (VAS); chronic pain grade (CPG); the assessment of quality of life (AQoL) and the carer strain index (CSI). The mean age of the participants (n = 70) was 55.3 years and majority (70%) were female.ResultsThe mean age of the participants (n = 70) was 55.3 years and majority (70%) were female. The findings show that over time (10 years), participants report having greater bilateral bodily pain and greater description of pain as ‘worse as it could be’. Pain types were similar to 7-years follow-up but remained higher than baseline. There was a significant deterioration in quality of life in those with more severe CPG over time. Almost half of the participants 31 (44%) required care either from a private carer, institution or from a family member. Although fear of taking medications and side effects were common barriers to treatment for pain, there was an increase in the use of pharmacological treatment over time and an increase in the use of healthcare services, mainly neurologists and general practitioners.ConclusionsThe pain measures reported by the participants were similar to those at the 7-year follow-up except there was a greater representation of bilateral pain locations (limb, trunk and facial pain) compared to baseline and 7-year follow-up. At 10-year follow-up, more participants used medications compared tc 7-year follow-up and there was an increase in the use of health professionals at the 10-year follow-up At the 10-year follow up QoL of the participants deteriorated significantly and more participants had progressed to higher CPGIII and CPGIV. This study demonstrates that chronic pain is a significant issue over time in MS, with clinical and health implications, impact on quality of life, disability and healthcare utilization.ImplicationsGreater awareness of chronic pain in pwMS, cognitive classifications and an interdisciplinary approach is required to improve long-term patient outcomes and well-being.Crown Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain. All rights reserved.


1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Daniels

The “litigation explosion” has been a frequent topic of concern in both academic circles and the popular press. This idea draws its polemical power from the assumption that litigation rates were lower in the past. But we presently know little about long-term trends in court activity. This article is a critical review of the existing literature on long-term litigation trends and the social development model which scholars have posited to explain changes in litigation patterns. Whether courts are indeed facing imminent crisis because of an explosion is still very much an open question; the extant literature offers no proof of an explosion. The available data do suggest, however, that previous studies may have been overly optimistic in expecting litigation trends to follow any single pattern. The questions about litigation rates will remain open until we are able to gain a fuller understanding of the trends in court activity over time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (9) ◽  
pp. 611-616
Author(s):  
Francesco Barone-Adesi ◽  
Daniela Ferrante ◽  
Elisabetta Chellini ◽  
Enzo Merler ◽  
Venere Pavone ◽  
...  

ObjectivesModels based on the multistage theory of cancer predict that rates of malignant mesothelioma continuously increase with time since first exposure (TSFE) to asbestos, even after the end of external exposure. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest that mesothelioma rates level off many years after first exposure to asbestos. A gradual clearance of asbestos from the lungs has been suggested as a possible explanation for this phenomenon. We analysed long-term trends of pleural and peritoneal cancer mortality in subjects exposed to asbestos to evaluate whether such trends were consistent with the clearance hypothesis.MethodsWe used data from a pool of 43 Italian asbestos cohorts (51 801 subjects). The role of asbestos clearance was explored using the traditional mesothelioma multistage model, generalised to include a term representing elimination of fibres over time.ResultsRates of pleural cancer increased until 40 years of TSFE, but remained stable thereafter. On the other hand, we observed a monotonic increase of peritoneal cancer with TSFE. The model taking into account asbestos clearance fitted the data better than the traditional one for pleural (p=0.004) but not for peritoneal (p=0.09) cancer.ConclusionsRates of pleural cancer do not increase indefinitely after the exposure to asbestos, but eventually reach a plateau. This trend is well described by a model accounting for a gradual elimination of the asbestos fibres. These results are relevant for the prediction of future rates of mesothelioma and in asbestos litigations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Chauvel ◽  
Anne Hartung ◽  
Flaviana Palmisano

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for comparing income rank volatility profiles over time and across distributions. While most of the existing measures are affected by changes in marginal distributions, this paper proposes a framework based on individuals’ relative positions in the distribution that is neutral to structural changes that occur in that distribution. Applying this approach to West Germany and the US over three decades, we show that while poorer individuals in both countries are the most volatile in all periods investigated, the long-term trends of volatility at the different points of the distribution in each of these countries differ.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 248-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jannet Svensson ◽  
Annette Lyngaae-Jørgensen ◽  
Bendix Carstensen ◽  
Lars Bjarke Simonsen ◽  
Henrik B Mortensen ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Schumann ◽  
Bettina Rottweiler ◽  
Paul Gill

Public support for terrorism reflects people’s sympathy for terrorist groups or tactics; it is influenced by and, in turn, shapes terrorists’ campaigns as well as counter-terrorism measures. To date, long term trends of public opinion about terrorism have been assessed in case studies and through descriptive statistics. Systematic analyses that specify whether and how public support for terrorism has changed over time are not available. We addressed this gap in the literature and conducted time-series analyses of eight waves of data (2004 2011) from the Pew Global Attitudes Survey. Including responses from 15 Muslim majority countries (N =43255), we showed that the percentage of people who believed that suicide terrorism was justified decreased between 2005 and 2007 after which support remained at a lower level (one structural breakpoint). Results also highlighted that depending on how public opinion was operationalised, the same data could inform an opposing narrative about support for terrorism. Notably when analyses were replicated with a mean composite score of the answer options ‘often', 'sometimes‘ and ‘rarely justified’ the percentage of people who thought that terrorism was ‘ever justified’ was reduced in 2005 before increasing again in 2008 (two structural breakpoints). Pre-registration of studies is therefore crucial to avoid selective analyses.


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