Table 1.
Characteristics of US veterans with chronic pain prior to hospital admission during fiscal year 2013: in overall sample and according to pain intensity * (N = 96,224).
| Characteristics by Domain | Overall N = 96,224 |
Moderate Pain N = 28,810 |
Severe Pain N = 67,414 |
p Value † |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | ||||
| Age (yr), Mean ± SD | 74.0 ± 8.0 | 73.8 ± 8.0 | 74.0 ± 8.0 | <0.0001 |
| N (%), 65–69 | 39,516 (41.1) | 11,261 (39.1) | 28,255 (41.9) | <0.0001 |
| 70–79 | 31,154 (32.4) | 9466 (32.9) | 21,688 (32.2) | |
| 85–89 | 21,412 (22.3) | 6703 (23.3) | 14,709 (21.8) | |
| 90+ yr | 4142 (4.3) | 1380 (4.8) | 2762 (4.1) | |
| Female | 2390 (2.5) | 613 (2.1) | 1777 (2.6) | <0.0001 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 73,312 (76.2) | 23,226 (80.6) | 50,086 (74.3) | <0.0001 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 15,600 (16.2) | 3570 (12.4) | 12,030 (17.8) | |
| Hispanic | 4859 (5.1) | 1283 (4.5) | 3576 (5.3) | |
| Other/declined to report | 2453 (2.6) | 598 (2.5) | 1491 (2.6) | |
| Currently married | 48,903 (50.8) | 15,249 (52.9) | 33,654 (49.9) | <0.0001 |
| Musculoskeletal pain | ||||
| Back pain | 55,485 (57.7) | 14,353 (49.8) | 41,132 (61.0) | <0.0001 |
| Nontraumatic joint damage | 80,666 (83.8) | 23,031(79.9) | 57,635 (85.5) | <0.0001 |
| Osteoarthritis | 57,219 (59.5) | 15,799 (54.8) | 41,420 (61.4) | <0.0001 |
| Any sites of MSD pain | 73,410 (76.3) | 21,887 (76.0) | 51,523 (76.4) | 0.1264 |
| Mental health conditions | ||||
| Post-traumatic Stress Disorders | 19,871 (20.7) | 4811 (16.7) | 15,060 (22.3) | <0.0001 |
| Major depressive disorders | 16,135 (16.8) | 3921 (13.6) | 12,214 (18.1) | <0.0001 |
| Serious mental illnesses | 8777 (9.1) | 2105 (7.3) | 6672 (9.9) | <0.0001 |
| Alcohol use disorders | 16,343 (17.0) | 4045 (14.0) | 12,298 (18.2) | <0.0001 |
| Substance use disorders | 7223 (7.5) | 1336 (4.6) | 5887 (8.7) | <0.0001 |
| Other clinical conditions | ||||
| Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias | 17,079 (17.8) | 4870 (16.9) | 12,209 (18.1) | <0.0001 |
| Chronic liver disease | 6639 (6.9) | 1665 (5.8) | 4974 (7.4) | <0.0001 |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder and Allied Conditions | 43,257 (45.0) | 12,080 (41.9) | 31,177 (46.3) | <0.0001 |
| Chronic renal failure | 26,285 (27.3) | 7351 (25.5) | 18,934 (28.1) | <0.0001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 24,530 (25.5) | 6670 (23.2) | 17,860 (26.5) | <0.0001 |
| Coronary artery diseases | 48,394 (50.3) | 14,091 (48.9) | 34,303 (50.9) | <0.0001 |
| Delirium | 9089 (9.5) | 2242 (7.8) | 6847 (10.2) | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes | 47,245 (49.1) | 13,316 (46.2) | 33,929 (50.3) | <0.0001 |
| Hypertension | 86,334 (89.7) | 25,465 (88.4) | 60,869 (90.3) | <0.0001 |
| Parkinson diseases | 2823 (2.9) | 746 (2.6) | 2077 (3.1) | <0.0001 |
| Stroke or Cerebrovascular Disease | 466 (0.48) | 136 (0.47) | 330 (0.49) | 0.7209 |
| Traumatic brain injury | 733 (0.76) | 173 (0.60) | 560 (0.83) | 0.0002 |
| Charlson comorbidity index | 3.9 ± 3.0 | 3.7 ± 2.9 | 3.9 ± 3.0 | <0.0001 |
Abbreviations: MSD, Musculoskeletal disorders; Values represent mean ± SD or Frequency (%); * Moderate: PIR 4–6; Severe: PIR 7–10; † Based on Student t-test for continuous variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables, except otherwise indicated.