PAE News
European Survey on Chronic Pain
Report of the 2017 Edition
Pain Alliance Europe involved its members and its members’ members, the patients, in an important project designed to provide information about the challenges of access to treatment that chronic pain patients meet.
Patients from 17 countries provided information via a European survey translated in the respective national languages and available online as well as in printed format.
The results of the survey have been processed by Dr Nick Guldemond and Ms Mathilde Strating of the University of Rotterdam, in a collaboration that will continue for future surveys.
Dr Guldemond and Ms Strating provided a comprehensive report. Pain Alliance Europe presented this to its members during the General Assembly – and also to the public during the Societal Impact of Pain Symposium, where a poster showing this report was displayed to the delegates.
A full report slide was created for the SIP event highlighting the four main issues that the results of the survey have brought into attention:
- Long time to get a diagnosis – 70% of the respondents reported that it took more than 1 year to get a diagnosis
- Treatment satisfaction – 78% of the respondents were not satisfied with the efficiency of the treatment they received
- The importance of support groups – 32% respondents who attended group meetings found these really helpful.
- The importance of online patient associations’ forums – 57.4 % of the respondents who found the question relevant reported that participating in a patient’s association forum on the web was really helpful.
You can download the report’s brochure
The national surveys’ results were shared with all our PAE members. They can analyse their national data and use it locally, to raise awareness at the national level on the hurdles in the access to treatment that patients with chronic pain conditions need to overcome.
PAE Board member Marian Nicholson, in charge of this project, said: “We had to overcome various challenges in creating this first survey on chronic pain. These included differences between national healthcare systems and procedures and of course language compatibility and comprehension. We have had a lot of valuable feedback from the patients and learned a lot so that the next survey will be even better. In 2018, our project will continue with a survey on the impact of chronic pain at work. The aging workforce, a later age of retirement and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases are some of the parameters that challenge the society nowadays. The survey will enable Pain Alliance Europe to provide patients’ insights on the importance of a healthy workforce and the related difficulties that must be addressed.”
