{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T21:27:06Z","timestamp":1787779626881,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]],"date-time":"2024-12-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Chronic pain is defined as any persistent or recurring pain lasting longer than 3 months that significantly affects a person\u2019s quality of life. Millions worldwide are impacted by chronic pain, but its subjective nature makes it difficult to quantify and compare between individuals. Methods: This retrospective analysis aimed to examine the differences in pain perception and reporting between male and female patients, as well as how their pain was managed. Data from 1995 patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected from the Advocate Illinois Masonic Pain Clinic database. The types of pain assessed in this study included lower back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis. Results: The findings indicate that females suffer more from chronic pain conditions than males, where lower back pain had the highest prevalence in both sexes (63.7% reported). Baseline Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores at the first inpatient visit were statistically higher in females than males (7.95 \u00b1 1.35 vs. 7.72 \u00b1 1.46, p = 0.006). After 1 year of treatment, both sexes reported a clinical improvement in their symptoms. With regards to medication, females reported a higher use of medications such as muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines, and tricyclic antidepressants, while males reported a higher use of opioids (measured in MMEs). Conclusions: This study reveals a significant sex difference in the reporting of non-cancer-related chronic pain, with females reporting higher pain intensity than males.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases12120314","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]],"date-time":"2024-12-03T09:18:32Z","timestamp":1733217512000},"page":"314","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Sex Differences in Pain Scores and Medication Consumption for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Alvaro Guerra","family":"Branger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Diaz Morales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabiola","family":"Adkisson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8028-1495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nebojsa Nick","family":"Knezevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"},{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612, USA"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000001384","article-title":"Chronic pain as a symptom or a disease: The IASP classification of chronic pain for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)","volume":"160","author":"Treede","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pain"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpain.2015.08.010","article-title":"Assessment of chronic pain: Domains, methods and mechanisms","volume":"17","author":"Fillingim","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. 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