Nation-wide decrease in the prevalence of pediatric chronic pain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to increase prevalence and severity of chronic pain. We compared pandemic-era and pre-pandemic prevalence of chronic pain among children in the US. Methods Data were obtained from the 2019 and 2020 National Survey of Children’s Health, a web-or mail-based survey representative of children living in the US (n=20,359 in 2019; 29,159 in 2020). Caregiver-reported prevalence of chronic pain was compared between survey years using bivariate and multivariable methods. Results The prevalence of chronic pain among US children decreased from 11 to 8% in the first year of the pandemic. Multivariable analysis adjusting for children’s and caregivers’ demographics and socioeconomic characteristics confirmed that in 2020, odds of caregiver-reported chronic pain declined by 33% (95% confidence interval: 23%, 42%; p<0.001). Conclusions The encouraging finding of a nationwide decrease in the prevalence of chronic pain calls into question initial predictions anticipating the pandemic to contribute to onset or persistence of chronic pain among children.