TABLE. Prevalence of chronic pain* and high impact chronic pain^† among U.S. adults aged ≥18 years, by sociodemographic characteristics—National Health Interview Survey, 2016.

Characteristic	Chronic pain*			High-impact chronic pain†
	Estimated no.§	Crude % (95% CI)	Age-adjusted¶ % (95% CI)	Estimated no.§	Crude % (95% CI)	Age-adjusted¶ % (95% CI)
Total	50,009,000	20.4 (19.7–21.0)	19.4 (18.7–20.0)	19,611,000	8.0 (7.6–8.4)	7.5 (7.1–7.9)
Age group (yrs)
18–24	2,082,000	7.0 (5.8–8.5)	—**	446,000	1.5 (0.9–2.3)	—**
25–44	11,042,000	13.2 (12.3–14.1)	—**	3,681,000	4.4 (3.9–5.0)	—**
45–64	23,269,000	27.8 (26.6–29.0)	—**	10,044,000	12.0 (11.2–12.9)	—**
65–84	11,808,000	27.6 (26.4–29.0)	—**	4,578,000	10.7 (9.9–11.6)	—**
≥85	1,766,000	33.6 (30.1–37.3)	—**	830,000	15.8 (13.2–18.9)	—**
Sex
Male	21,989,000	18.6 (17.7–19.5)	17.8 (17.0–18.7)	8,276,000	7.0 (6.5–7.6)	6.7 (6.2–7.3)
Female	28,049,000	22.1 (21.2–23.0)	20.8 (19.9–21.6)	11,296,000	8.9 (8.4–9.4)	8.2 (7.7–8.7)
Race/Ethnicity
Hispanic	5,856,000	15.1 (13.6–16.7)	16.7 (15.2–18.4)	2,754,000	7.1 (6.0–8.3)	7.9 (6.9–9.2)
White, non-Hispanic	36,226,000	23.0 (22.2–23.8)	21.0 (20.3–21.8)	13,230,000	8.4 (7.9–8.9)	7.4 (7.0–7.9)
Black, non-Hispanic	5,148,000	17.9 (16.4–19.6)	17.8 (16.3–19.4)	2,387,000	8.3 (7.2–9.4)	8.1 (7.1–9.2)
Other, non-Hispanic††	2,774,000	13.8 (12.1–15.7)	14.4 (12.7–16.3)	1,326,000	6.6 (5.3–8.1)	7.0 (5.7–8.5)
Education
Less than high school	7,809,000	26.1 (24.2–28.2)	23.7 (21.7–25.7)	4,069,000	13.6 (12.3–15.2)	12.1 (10.7–13.7)
High school/GED	14,441,000	23.7 (22.5–25.0)	22.6 (21.2–23.9)	5,910,000	9.7 (9.0–10.6)	9.1 (8.4–10.0)
Some college	17,129,000	22.6 (21.5–23.8)	22.9 (21.8–24.0)	6,518,000	8.6 (7.9–9.4)	8.7 (8.0–9.5)
Bachelor's degree or higher	10,383,000	13.4 (12.6–14.3)	12.4 (11.7–13.3)	2,944,000	3.8 (3.4–4.3)	3.5 (3.1–4.0)
Employment status
Employed	22,085,000	14.7 (14.1–15.5)	14.5 (13.8–15.2)	5,108,000	3.4 (3.1–3.8)	3.2 (2.9–3.6)
Not employed; worked previously	25,737,000	31.5 (30.3–32.7)	29.2 (27.8–30.6)	13,318,000	16.3 (15.4–17.2)	16.1 (15.0–17.3)
Not employed; never worked	2,083,000	15.9 (13.8–18.2)	18.7 (16.1–21.6)	1,192,000	9.1 (7.6–10.9)	11.1 (9.1–13.4)
Poverty status
<100% FPL	8,017,000	25.8 (24.2–27.6)	29.6 (27.9–31.3)	4,630,000	14.9 (13.6–16.4)	17.5 (16.1–19.0)
100% ≤FPL<200%	11,357,000	26.2 (24.5–27.9)	25.9 (24.2–27.7)	5,375,000	12.4 (11.3–13.6)	12.3 (11.2–13.5)
200% ≤FPL<400%	14,181,000	20.3 (19.2–21.4)	19.3 (18.3–20.4)	5,100,000	7.3 (6.7–8.1)	6.9 (6.2–7.6)
≥400% FPL	16,441,000	16.3 (15.4–17.2)	14.6 (13.8–15.5)	4,438,000	4.4 (4.0–4.9)	3.9 (3.5–4.4)
Veteran
Yes	6,379,000	29.1 (27.1–31.2)	26.0 (23.5–28.7)	2,258,000	10.3 (9.1–11.8)	9.2 (7.7–11.1)
No	43,519,000	19.5 (18.9–20.2)	19.0 (18.4–19.7)	17,407,000	7.8 (7.4–8.2)	7.5 (7.1–7.9)
Health insurance coverage§§
Age <65 yrs
Private	20,539,000	15.1 (14.3–15.8)	14.0 (13.3–14.8)	5,713,000	4.2 (3.8–4.7)	3.8 (3.4–4.2)
Medicaid and other public coverage	8,215,000	29.3 (27.3–31.5)	30.0 (28.0–32.2)	4,822,000	17.2 (15.6–19.0)	17.8 (16.2–19.6)
Other	3,860,000	43.5 (40.0–47.2)	34.8 (31.2–38.7)	2,263,000	25.5 (22.5–28.8)	19.3 (16.4–22.5)
Uninsured	3,683,000	16.2 (14.4–18.2)	17.0 (15.2–19.0)	1,319,000	5.8 (4.7–7.2)	6.2 (5.0–7.6)
Age ≥65 yrs
Private	5,606,000	28.0 (26.3–29.9)	28.1 (26.3–30.0)	1,842,000	9.2 (8.1–10.5)	9.3 (8.2–10.6)
Medicare and Medicaid	1,428,000	42.5 (37.6–47.5)	42.5 (37.6–47.5)	816,000	24.3 (20.4–28.6)	24.3 (20.4–28.6)
Medicare Advantage	3,094,000	25.5 (23.1–28.1)	25.8 (23.4–28.4)	1,226,000	10.1 (8.5–11.8)	10.3 (8.7–12.1)
Medicare only, excluding Medicare Advantage	2,115,000	25.9 (23.1–28.9)	25.9 (23.1–28.9)	939,000	11.5 (9.5–13.7)	11.5 (9.5–13.7)
Other	1,229,000	31.6 (27.2–36.3)	31.8 (27.4–36.5)	545,000	14.0 (11.3–17.3)	14.3 (11.5–17.7)
Uninsured	106,000	—¶¶	—¶¶	59,000	—¶¶	—¶¶
Urbanicity***
Urban	38,401,000	19.0 (18.3–19.7)	18.4 (17.7–19.0)	14,754,000	7.3 (6.9–7.8)	7.0 (6.6–7.4)
Rural	11,575,000	26.9 (25.4–28.5)	24.0 (22.5–25.6)	4,776,000	11.1 (10.2–12.2)	9.8 (8.8–10.9)

Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; FPL = federal poverty level; GED = General Educational Development certification.

* Pain on most days or every day in the past 6 months.

^† Chronic pain limiting life or work activities on most days or every day in the past 6 months.

^§ The estimated numbers, rounded to 1,000s, were annualized based on the 2016 data. Counts for adults of unknown status (responses coded as “refused,” “don’t know,” or “not ascertained”) with respect to chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain are not shown separately in the table, nor are they included in the calculation of percentages (as part of either the denominator or the numerator), to provide a more straightforward presentation of the data.

^¶ Estimates are age-adjusted using the projected 2000 U.S. population as the standard population and five age groups: 18–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and ≥60 years.

** Not applicable.

^†† Non-Hispanic other includes non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native only, non-Hispanic Asian only, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander only, and non-Hispanic multiple race.

^§§ Based on a hierarchy of mutually exclusive categories. Adults reporting both private and Medicare Advantage coverage were assigned to the Medicare Advantage category. “Uninsured” includes adults who had no coverage as well as those who had only Indian Health Service coverage or had only a private plan that paid for one type of service such as accidents or dental care. “Other” comprises military health care including TRICARE, VA, and CHAMP-VA, and certain types of local and state governmental coverage, not including the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

^¶¶ Estimates are considered unreliable according to the National Center for Health Statistics’ standards of reliability.

*** Based on U.S. Census Bureau definitions of urban and rural areas (https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/ua/Defining_Rural.pdf).