MEDICATION AND PAIN: THE MOST INTENSE PAIN IS THE LEAST MEDICATED

Abstract

Pain is the leading cause of medical consultation in primary care and also of drug use in the general population. In some countries, the main problem is the lack of access to pain medication for large sectors of the population. In other countries, the problem is the abuse or misuse of painkillers and other drugs. The main objective of this article is to know the social factors that influence the consumption of pain medication in the Spanish population. For this purpose, we analyzed data from the 2017 National Health Survey on the one hand and the 2016 Survey on Social Perception of Pain on the other. We have found, among other relevant issues, that women, the elderly age and people with basic education have the highest drug use. Additionally, we found that emotional pain is both the most intense and the least medicalized pain, and it is a pain more women than men suffer from.