Prevalence of chronic pain and associated factors among medical students

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain is a major complaint of individuals looking for healthcare services. The high prevalence of both acute and chronic pain makes it a public health problem, due to high costs imposed to society and healthcare services, in addition to the negative impact on daily activities of those living with such experience. This study aimed at identifying the prevalence of chronic pain among medical students of a University in the countryside of São Paulo. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out with 395 students of all grades of the medicine course of the Universidade de Taubaté. Investigated variables were: pain incidence and duration, presence or not of triggering factor(s), use or not of painkillers, pain location and dimension according to McGill questionnaire. RESULTS: There has been predominance of females with 253 participants (64.05%), prevailing the age group between 21 to 25 years with 217 students (54.93%). Among participants, 219 (55.44%) reported some type of pain and among them, 141 (64.38%) have reported chronic pain, that is, for more than six months, in a total of 35.69%. CONCLUSION: In our study, chronic pain prevalence was 35.69%, especially among females. With regard to pain location, there has been more prevalence of lumbar and sacrococcygeal regions, followed by knees and headache, face and mouth and finally widespread pain.