Abstract

Population-based research consistently demonstrates greater pain prevalence among women relative to men. For example, large-scale epidemiological studies across multiple geographic regions find that pain is reported more frequently by women than by men. Gerdle and colleagues found that for each of 10 different anatomical regions, a greater proportion of women than men reported pain in the past week, and women were significantly more likely to report chronic widespread pain.

Keywords: Severity of pain; Treatment seeking patients; Chemical stimuli; Pain modulation; Experimental pain; Clinical studies; Gene alleles