A Pain Registry for Maine
The Maine Pain Registry, Pain Registry for ME 2, is a comprehensive, statewide chronic pain registry to advance epidemiological research and ultimately enhance healthcare practices in pain management throughout the state of Maine. The registry places a special focus on the influence of social determinants of health (SDOH) — the non-medical factors, such as racial/ethnic groups, education, income, employment, and housing environment — on chronic pain and its management, and is the first pain registry in the state.
In Maine, there is little data about the demographics of patients suffering from chronic pain and the societal burden it causes. It is estimated that approximately 30% of Mainers experience chronic pain, which peaks at 50–55 years of age and increases significantly with age. More females experience chronic pain than males at all age groups and across all counties. The unique characteristics of the Maine population — with more individuals of advanced age and a lack of population diversity — and the large rural sections of Maine with limited transportation access may present special barriers to pain care in Maine.
This registry was originally established through the initial funding provided by the Northern New England Clinical and Translation Research Network (NNE-CTR) pilot program NIGMS [U54GM115516 (PI, Rosen)]. Pain Registry for ME was reviewed and approved by the MaineHealth Institutional Review Board and Pain Registry for ME2 was reviewed and approved by the UNE Institutional Review Board.
Maine Pain Registry By The Numbers
Of the total participants, 32.1% are aged 65 or older, 69.7% of respondents are women, and 67% list their gender as female.
Get Involved
To join the chronic pain effort in Maine, contact us at painregistryforme@une.edu to help in any way, including:
- Help with recruitment
- Collaborate on the study (additional IRB approval is needed)
- Provide additional funding
Presentations, References, and Resources
Presentations
- Pain Registry Special Interest Group symposium at the 2024 IASP congress, August 5, 2024, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2024 Maine Public Health Association Conference, October 2, 2024, Portland, ME
- Osmer, J. “Mapping Public Health Accessibility and Inequities Across Maine Using GIS.” (PDF) Poster Presentation at University of New England College of Arts and Sciences 2025 Spring Research Symposium, May 2, 2025, Biddeford, ME
References
- Global burden of pain and global pain policy — creating a purposeful body of evidence (PDF)
A 2018 review article from the journal Pain that the International Association for the Study of Pain gave permission for us to post for the general public.
Citation: Blyth FM, Huckel Schneider C. Global burden of pain and global pain policy-creating a purposeful body of evidence. Pain. 2018 Sep;159 Suppl 1:S43-S48. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001311. PMID: 30113946. - The Global Burden of Pain: The Tip of the Iceberg?
A 2016 editorial from the Journal of Anesthesia and Analgesia on chronic pain that is free public access. - Chronic Pain Among Adults — United States, 2019–2021
A 2023 report from the US CDC summarizing chronic pain in US adults from 2019-2021 with free public access. - Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research
A 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine with policy-level recommendations for prevention, care, education, and research on chronic pain with free public access. - Pain Trends Among American Adults, 2002–2018: Patterns, Disparities, and Correlates
A 2021 paper from the journal Demography examining long-term trends in chronic pain with free public access. - Characterizing the demographics of chronic pain patients in the state of Maine using the Maine all payer claims database
A 2018 paper from the journal BMC Public Health on chronic pain in Maine with free public access. - Neuropathic Pain Registries Improve Pain Management and Provide More Efficacious Planning of Healthcare Services
A 2020 paper from the journal Springer Nature Link on neuropathic pain registries with free public access.
Additional Resources
- National pain strategy: A comprehensive population health-level strategy for pain
A 2016 report on national pain strategy from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC). - United States National Pain Strategy for Population Research: Concepts, Definitions, and Pilot Data.
A 2016 paper on how to use surveys to obtain high quality data on chronic pain from The Journal of Pain with free public access. - Estimated Rates of Incident and Persistent Chronic Pain Among U.S. Adults, 2019–2020
A 2023 article on the first nationwide estimates on the incidence of new chronic pain and new high impact chronic pain from the journal Neurology with free public access. - Chronic Pain and High-impact Chronic Pain Among U.S. Adults, 2019
A data brief with statistics on chronic pain from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics with free public access. - Chronic Pain
A book on chronic pain from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with free public access. - Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Approaches
A website with health information about chronic pain from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). - Maine Pain Management Specialists
A list of Maine practitioners who specialize in pain management from U.S. News & World Report. - Maine Rural Health Information hub webpage
A website with information about healthcare in rural areas of Maine with free public access. - Prescribing Resources
A list of resources for medical practitioners who prescribe controlled substances or other medications for pain from the State of Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine.