Preventing and managing chronic pain in primary care
Chronic pain is a considerable and growing public health issue. One in five Australians over the age of 45 lives with chronic pain. In 2018, chronic pain was estimated to have cost $139 billion in Australia, including health care costs, productivity losses, and reduced quality of life.
Early intervention and the adoption of evidence-based treatment could address both the health burden and economic costs of chronic pain. However, key issues include access to effective pain assessment, prevention, self-management, and non-pharmacological pain management services.
The project was led by Fiona Blyth AM, Professor of Public Health and Pain Medicine, University of Sydney. Professor Blyth is a public health physician, pain epidemiologist and medical educator and Head of the University of Sydney Concord Clinical School at Repatriation General Concord Hospital, and Associate Dean within the Faculty of Medicine. Professor Blyth is internationally recognised for her work in characterising the burden of chronic pain conditions within populations.
Funding for this research has been provided from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The MRFF provides funding to support health and medical research and innovation, with the objective of improving the health and wellbeing of Australians. MRFF funding has been provided to The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre under the MRFF Boosting Preventive Health Research Program. Further information on the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff
