When pain reigns: Supporting patients living with the misery of chronic pain

In 2001, Blyth and colleagues conducted an Australian study into prevalence of chronic pain. They found that 20 per cent of females and 17 per cent of males reported chronic pain, with it interfering with daily activity in 13.5 per cent of females and 11 per cent of males. Most disturbing were statistics on duration: while 10 per cent had experienced pain for six months to a year, 34 per cent had been in pain for one to five years, and 56 per cent had lived with pain for longer than five years.