Acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain situations among the working population and their pain education needs: an exploratory study

BACKGROUND: Pain affects a person's physical and psychological well-being, work performance and productivity. Working population bear their pain and continue to work which may contribute to the worsening of their pain condition. However, their pain situation was not well-examined. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence of acute and chronic pain in the working population in Hong Kong, understand their pain management strategies and determine their preferences with regard to the use of electronic pain management materials. METHODS: This was an exploratory online survey. The participants' pain history, their preferences in methods of pain management, the source of the pain management education that they had received, sources and preferences in relation to the use of the Internet for pain education, and the participants' demographic characteristics were collected. RESULTS: A total of 210 participants joined the study, 67% of whom were experiencing pain. Of the group in pain, 71.6% were in chronic pain that has persisted for 3 months or more. Pain intensities ranged from 2.82 to 3.82 on a 10-point numeric scale. Of the participants, 85.7% reported not receiving adequate pain management education, and 91.4% of those agreed pain services were inadequate. Websites and health care professionals were the sources from which they obtained their pain management education. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of pain in the working population requires special attention. Health care professionals should be proactive and an online pain management programme can be a solution to address the critical problem of pain in the working population.