We are pleased to announce that IASP is launching the ‘Real Women, Real Pain’ campaign to draw attention to the significant impact of chronic pain on women and the lack of attention to this global problem.

Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world, but unfortunately women are also less likely to receive treatment compared to men. This is due to various factors, including societal and cultural norms and economic and governmental barriers. Through this campaign, IASP hopes to provide a voice to these women by drawing attention to this global issue as a first step towards reducing pain and suffering for women around the world.

Throughout the year, IASP members and chapters will be organizing various programs and events to raise awareness of pain conditions affecting women as well as highlighting disparities between men/women with regard to symptom presentation and access to treatment. These activities will also serve to encourage female-specific research and development of effective treatment options for women.

IASP will also be initiating a media campaign in support of this program to educate the public, healthcare providers and government leaders/agencies about the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of chronic pain in women.

We encourage you to join us in drawing attention to and hopefully contribute to this important issue by contacting your local IASP chapter for more information on activities in your area.

Together, we can help reduce the pain and suffering of women worldwide.

Kind regards,

Troels S. Jensen, IASP President

Why ‘Real Women, Real Pain’?

The ‘Real Women, Real Pain’ campaign aims to empower women and raise awareness of pain issues affecting women worldwide.

Every day millions of women around the world suffer from chronic pain but many remain untreated. Several reasons may explain why barriers to treatment still exist. Psychosocial factors, such as gender roles, pain coping strategies and mood may influence how pain is perceived and communicated. In addition, there may be a lack of acceptance or understanding of the biological differences between men and women that may impact how pain is perceived. These psychosocial and biological factors, coupled with the economic and political barriers that still exist in many countries, have left millions of women living in pain without proper treatment.

Female Pain Issues

Pain conditions affecting women have a significant global impact. Yet, there is still a lack of awareness/recognition of pain issues affecting women.

Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world; however women are less likely to receive treatment. Research has shown that women generally experience more recurrent pain, more severe pain and longer lasting pain than men.

Many people are unaware that certain pain conditions are more prevalent in women than in men. For example, fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by chronic widespread pain, is significantly more prevalent in women (80-90% of diagnosed cases are women).¹ Other conditions that disproportionately affect women include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), chronic pelvic pain and migraine headache. For more information on these and other pain conditions affecting women, please click here to view our fact sheets or click here to view our media backgrounder.

References:
1. NIAMS. Questions and Answers about Fibromyalgia. Publication No. 04-5326. NIH; 2004. Available at: http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/fibromyalgia/fibrofs.htm.

Acknowledgements

IASP would like to thank the following members of the Global Year Task Force for their contributions:

Beverly Collett, Chair (UK), Anna Maria Aloisi (Italy), Andrew Amata (Kenya), Phyllis Berger (South Africa), Karen Berkley (USA), Peter Czakanski (USA), Stuart Derbyshire (UK), Tarlika Doctor (India), Roger Fillingim (USA), Maria Adele Giamberardino (Italy), Glenda Gray (South Africa), Amal Helou (Australia), Anita Holdcroft (UK), Edmund Keogh (UK), Kathy Kreiter (USA), Linda LeResche (USA), Patricia McGrath (Canada), Jeffrey Mogil (Canada), William Stones (Kenya), Francesca Storr (New Zealand), Richard Traub (USA), Frank Tu (USA), and Ursula Wesselmann (USA).

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