- \n
- An estimated 20 per cent of adult Australians suffer chronic pain. <\/li>\n
- More women than men experience chronic pain. \u00a0Chronic pain is most common in women in the 50-54 age bracket and men in the 55-59 age bracket.<\/li>\n
- Injury is the most common cause of chronic pain (38 per cent), though a further third of all people who experience chronic pain are unable to identify the original cause.\u00a0\u00a0 Other identified causes include arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions, headache, cancer-related pain, post-surgical persistent pain and non-specific lower back pain.<\/li>\n
- Chronic pain is estimated to cost the Australian economy $34.3 billion each year, which equates to $10,847 for each person with the condition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Survey Results Analysis <\/h2>\n
More than 1450 people responded to the Relationships Australia online survey in June.\u00a0 Almost four-fifths of survey respondents (79%) identified as female.<\/p>\n
As was the case for last month\u2019s survey, more females than males responded in every age group (Figure 1).\u00a0 Eighty-five per cent of survey respondents were aged between 20\u201159 years, with the highest number of responses collected for women aged between 30-39 years (inclusive).<\/p>\n
The demographic profile of survey respondents remains consistent with our experience of the groups of people that would be accessing the Relationships Australia website.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Junesurveyfig1demographics.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around one-third of male and female survey respondents reported that they have chronic pain, higher than the national average of 20 per cent.\u00a0 Just over 40 per cent of survey respondents reported that no-one in their family has chronic pain (see Table 1).<\/p>\n
Table 1. Levels of chronic pain by gender, June 2015<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\n
\n \n <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n Female<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n Male<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n I have chronic pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 31<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 28<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n My partner has chronic pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n \n<\/td>\n
\n 12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n Both my partner and I have chronic pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n \n<\/td>\n
\n \n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n Someone else in my family has chronic pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 15<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n No-one in my family has chronic pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 41<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 45<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n \n Total<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 100<\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n 100<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Survey participants were asked about the effect of chronic pain on their adult relationships.\u00a0 Just over 95\u00a0per cent of respondents reported that they considered chronic pain to have a moderate to severe effect on adult relationships (Figure 2).\u00a0 Women were more likely to report significant to severe effects on adult relationships due to chronic pain than men (Women 75%, men 68%).<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Junesurveyfig2effectsonrelationships.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn response to the question, \u2018If your family member has chronic pain, what do you think is the best way to support them?<\/i>\u2019 almost all survey participants indicated emotional support or doing as much as you can for them(Figure 3).\u00a0 Women were more likely than men to indicate a preference for emotional support (36% compared with 31%) and men more were more likely than women to report physical support (7% compared with 5%).<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Junesurveyfig3support.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMen and women reported similarly when asked whether talking with a family member about their chronic pain had any effect on the pain.\u00a0 One-third (33%) of survey respondents reported that talking with a family member about their pain had no effect on the pain, while just under two-thirds (61%) reported that talking to a family member about their pain made the pain better.<\/p>\n
Survey respondents who reported that no-one in their family was suffering chronic pain were more likely to indicate (72%) that talking to a family member about their pain made the pain better than other respondents.\u00a0 Where respondents indicated their partner has chronic pain, 54\u00a0per cent reported that talking with a family member has no effect on the pain (Figure 4) compared with 23 per cent for respondents who reported that no-one in their family has chronic pain.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Junesurveyfig4talkingwithafamilymember.jpg\")
<\/p>\nReferences <\/h2>\n