Unrelieved pain: are we making progress? Shared education for general practitioners and specialists is the best way forward

Cousins, Michael J; Brydon, Lesley

doi:10.5694/mja14.00572

Topics

The National Pain Strategy is driving improvements in pain management, but greater impetus is needed

One in five people are afflicted by chronic pain in Australia, with many experiencing severe disability.1,2 Such disability is strongly correlated with greater use of health resources and increasing reliance on disability support payments.3 Low back pain is now the number one cause of years lived with disability in Australia and globally.

1 Pain Management Research Institute, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
2 Pain Management and Research Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
3 Painaustralia, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence: lesley.brydon@painaustralia.org.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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