Researchers looked at pain around the world and across the human lifespan, finding steepest rise happens before age 55
Women report suffering more pain than men, a major new global study has found.
That was true for all types of pain the researchers measured, and comes amid continuing concern about the gender pain gap, which means women are less likely to be prescribed the pain relief they need.
Researchers from all over the world carried out “one of the largest harmonization efforts in pain epidemiology to date”. Data was collected from more than 6 million people from 118 countries from 1990 to 2025, and included people from five years old to more than 100.
The research, published in Nature Medicine, looked at how pain, as the leading global cause of disability, was distributed both around the world and across the human lifespan.
Why not? Pain is a subjective experience. If someone experience high levels of pain consistently, that is reason to do something about it. Someone else may experience less pain for the same cause, but that doesn’t invalidate other experiences. In the end it’s about helping people and making their lifes better.
Although for such studies it would be good indeed to factor in socialisation effects. If men are raised to suppress expressing pain when they’re in pain, while women are not, that might bias the results.
Do we have a non-invasive method for objectively measuring pain?
My issue is that it leads to more than one conclusion and we have no reason to choose one over the others.
all that, and because people lie.
lying about pain is a great way to socially manipulate the people around you.