80% of patients in ‘pain’ a year after care

EIGHT out of 10 patients are still in chronic pain a year after treatment – with 15% wishing that they were dead, new research has found.

The study, the first to track the impact of chronic pain on patients over a year, found that more than three-quarters of patients worried that their pain would force them to stop work.

It found that 46% felt alone in tackling their pain and more than half of Irish patients felt anxious or depressed.