Comorbidity of Chronic Pain Conditions: Insights from the UNC Pain Registry (2014)

Undergraduate: Kalyani Avva

Faculty Advisor: Denniz Zolnoun
Department: Biology

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Chronic pain disorders affect over half of the American population and costs the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity. Current research establishes a possible relationship between orofacial pain, chronic headaches, and other chronic pain disorders within a female population. The aim of this study was to further investigate any possible comorbidity between these pain conditions through the use of survey data from a registry of chronic pain patients. The data was comprised of 1473 survey responses that were administered from 2007 to 2013 at UNC Hospitals. The survey established whether or not the respondent was formally diagnosed with a pain condition such as Episodic Migraines, Tempromandibular Joint Disorders, Vulvar Vestibulitis, or Fibromyalgia; and if the respondent was diagnosed or self-reported a variety of urogenital, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, sleep-related, or psychiatric disorders. Of the 1204 female registrants, consenting to study participation, 983 (82%) had some form of a pain condition. The average respondent had 2 conditions across the 5 categories, indicating a general comorbidity amongst the chronic pain conditions. The findings of this study show that most patients experiencing some form of chronic pain in one area of the body will also experience pain localized to another area. Therefore, it is important for health care providers to take a holistic approach to chronic pain management versus separate treatment for each condition