MDH: 83K Seek Chronic Pain Treatment Annually

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A report from the Minnesota Department of Health reveals that about 83,000 Minnesotans undergo procedures to treat chronic pain each year.

The three-year study conducted by the MDH utilized the All Payer Claims Database, created in 2008 under the Tim Pawlenty administration.

The report does not tally up the cost of chronic pain treatment in Minnesota, but the database does compile that information and may release it in a future report. Patients' names, addresses and social security numbers are not used in the database.

One-hundred-million Americans suffer from chronic pain, which costs the U.S. economy about $600 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Treatment for back pain and osteoarthritis are the two most-common chronic pain aliments, with injections, disc surgery and spinal column procedures as the most common forms of treatment.

The report shows that woman account for 62 percent of chronic pain patients, and people over 60 make up 44 percent of the patients.

Click here to read the complete study, and here to read more information on the All Payer Claims Database.