Women report pain more often than men, global analysis finds
· Medical Xpressedited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan
Gaby Clark
Scientific Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process
Robert Egan
Senior Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
fact-checked
peer-reviewed publication
trusted source
proofread
The GIST Add as preferred source
Pain may not increase linearly with age, with the sharpest rises occurring before age 55, according to a global analysis of more than 6 million people published in Nature Medicine. The findings could help researchers compare pain across populations and improve global pain monitoring and prevention.
Pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide, but there is no standard way to compare self-reported pain across ages and regions. Existing estimates often focus on diagnosed conditions, which may overlook pain among people with limited access to health care.
Matt Fillingim, Etienne Vachon-Presseau and colleagues analyzed self-reported pain data collected between 1990 and 2025 from 6,125,459 people ages 5 to over 100 across 118 countries and territories. Pain prevalence ranged from around 2% for facial pain to 40% for back pain. Pain was more common in women than men across all 11 body areas studied, with the largest differences seen for facial pain, headaches and stomach or abdominal pain.
Across all body areas, pain prevalence rose most sharply before age 55, although patterns differed by body area: headaches and abdominal pain peaked earlier in life, while back, hip and knee pain continued to increase with age.
From age 40, pain anywhere in the body, joint pain and back pain increased more rapidly in countries with lower Human Development Index (HDI) values. At age 80 or older, the prevalence of any bodily pain was around 31 percentage points higher in countries with lower HDI values than in those with higher HDI values, and low back pain was nearly twice as common. Known risk factors, including smoking, obesity and low income, explained less of the pain burden in lower-development settings; the reasons for these higher levels of pain are unclear.
The authors suggest that pain prevention may need to start earlier in life and be tailored to different regions. However, most data were collected at a single point in time, so the data show differences between age groups rather than changes in the same people as they age.
Publication details
Matt Fillingim et al, Global and regional reference curves for pain across the lifespan in 6.1 million individuals in 118 countries, Nature Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-026-04696-w
Journal information: Nature Medicine
Key medical concepts
PainBack PainAbdominal PainHeadache
Clinical categories
Women's healthFamily medicineCommon illnesses & PreventionHealthy aging Provided by Nature Publishing Group Who's behind this story?
Gaby Clark
MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →
Robert Egan
Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →
Citation: Women report pain more often than men, global analysis finds (2026, October 5) retrieved 5 October 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-women-pain-men-global-analysis.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.