Table 2.
Prevalence and location of chronic pain in total sample and by PSP category.a
| Total sample | Municipal/provincial police1 | RCMP2 | Corrections workers3 | Firefighters4 | Paramedics5 | Call center operators/dispatchers6 | Chi-square | Significant differences between PSP categories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalence, % (n) | |||||||||
| Any chronic pain | 40.2 (2035) | 35.9 (482) | 43.4 (563) | 45.4 (318) | 35.3 (284) | 44.1 (297) | 36.7 (91) | 37.099*** | 1 < 2, 3, 5 |
| 4 < 2, 3, 5 | |||||||||
| 6 < 2, 3, 5 | |||||||||
| Chronic pain location, % (n)b,c | |||||||||
| Lower back | 24.0 (1216) | 22.1 (296) | 26.5 (344) | 26.1 (183) | 18.4 (148) | 28.9 (195) | 20.2 (50) | 33.845*** | 1 < 2, 3, 5 |
| 4 < 1, 2, 3, 4 | |||||||||
| 6 < 2, 5 | |||||||||
| Shoulder | 17.6 (890) | 14.7 (197) | 19.6 (254) | 18.5 (130) | 15.7 (126) | 21.5 (145) | 15.3 (38) | 21.985*** | 1 < 2, 3, 5 |
| 4 < 2, 5 | |||||||||
| 6 < 5 | |||||||||
| Neck | 16.8 (849) | 15.4 (207) | 17.8 (231) | 21.0 (147) | 12.3 (99) | 18.1 (122) | 17.3 (43) | 23.993*** | 1 < 3 |
| 4 < 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | |||||||||
| Arm | 11.1 (563) | 10.6 (142) | 12.5 (162) | 12.6 (88) | 6.7 (54) | 12.5 (84) | 13.3 (33) | 22.561*** | 4 < 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 |
| Leg | 14.3 (726) | 12.7 (171) | 15.7 (204) | 16.5 (116) | 11.3 (91) | 15.0 (101) | 17.3 (43) | 15.666** | 1 < 2, 3 |
| 4 < 2, 3, 5, 6 | |||||||||
| Hand | 10.9 (554) | 9.8 (131) | 12.0 (156) | 13.6 (95) | 7.2 (58) | 12.0 (81) | 13.3 (33) | 22.112*** | 1 < 3 |
| 4 < 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | |||||||||
| Foot | 12.6 (637) | 11.8 (159) | 14.9 (193) | 15.4 (108) | 7.6 (61) | 12.2 (82) | 13.7 (34) | 30.671*** | 1 < 2, 3 |
| 4 < 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | |||||||||
| Headaches | 15.2 (769) | 14.4 (193) | 16.0 (207) | 18.5 (130) | 9.1 (73) | 18.8 (127) | 15.7 (39) | 37.774*** | 1 < 3, 5 |
| 4 < 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | |||||||||
| Other | 7.1 (358) | 5.7 (77) | 8.8 (114) | 6.8 (48) | 5.2 (42) | 9.1 (61) | 6.5 (16) | 17.900** | 1 < 2, 5 |
| 4 < 2, 5 |
aPSP indicates public safety personnel; RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
bNonmutually exclusive chronic pain locations.
cOnly calculated for respondents who reported experiencing any chronic pain, more days than not, that lasted longer than 3 months.
Different numbered superscripts indicate that public safety personnel categories differ from one another at 0.05 only. Differences across categories were tested using logistic regression models for prevalence.
*P ≤ .05; **P ≤ .01; ***P ≤ .001