Wednesday 2 November 2022 06:04 PM Two-fifths of adults are in pain by their mid-40s trends now

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More than two-fifths of people in Britain suffer from some form of chronic pain by the time they are in their mid-40s, a study suggests.

Chronic or persistent pain is pain that carries on for longer than three months despite medication or treatment.

It can affect all ages and all parts of the body – for example arthritis, back pain, headaches or all-over muscle pain.

Now, scientists have discovered people who suffer from persistent pain in their 40s are more likely to be unhappy, develop depression and be unemployed as they get older.

Their findings also suggest chronic pain at the age of 44 is linked to very severe pain at 51, and that sufferers will be more vulnerable to viruses such as Covid as they get older.

The research, published in the journal Plos One, is based on more than 12,000 people born in a single week in March 1958 in Britain who were followed until the age of 62.

Study co-author Professor Alex Bryson, of University College London's Social Research Institute, said: 'Chronic pain is a very serious problem affecting a large number of people.

'Tracking a birth cohort across their life course, we find chronic pain is highly persistent and is associated with poor mental health outcomes later in life including depression, as well as leading to poorer general health and joblessness.