Gender Differences and Social Determinants in Pain Prevalence: A Nationwide Study on the Albanian Population

Acute pain and chronic pain represent major global public health challenges; however, no data on their prevalence and determinants have been available in Albania. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of both acute and chronic pain by gender, and to identify sociodemographic factors associated with chronic pain. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted, using a random cluster sampling method to recruit a representative sample of 380 families across all the regions of Albania. A total of 1424 participants completed a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, univariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore associations between chronic pain and potential predictors. Acute pain was reported by 39.8% of respondents, while chronic pain affected 37.1% of the sample. Multivariate analysis revealed that chronic pain was significantly associated with female sex (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.99; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-2.26), age over 60 years (aOR = 2.55; 95% CI: 1.15-5.38), in particular range between 31 and 50 years old (aOR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.71-3.88), low annual income (< 1000; aOR = 2.35; 95% CI: 1.13-5.30), who smoke/alcohol use (aOR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.18-0.97). Over weight (OR = 2.36; 95% CI: 1.24-4.60) and to be cancer affected (OR = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.59-4.40) only in univariate analysis are associated with chronic pain. In both cases, these results are not confirmed in the multivariate analysis. This is the first study to assess the prevalence and determinants of pain in Albania. The findings highlight a substantial burden of untreated pain and underscore the need for equity-oriented public health strategies, integrated pain services, academic education strategies, and targeted interventions for vulnerable groups.