ABSTRACT
Pain can occur at any time during the course of MS, including early in the course of the disease. A large proportion of people with MS develop chronic pain. Prevalence rates of persistent pain in MS approximate 50-65% in community samples.1-3 For those who do report chronic pain, it is generally described as a signi„cant concern. For instance, studies have reported that more than half (57%) of those with pain report that it is constant,3 one quarter report that pain is severe,1 and 44% report that pain is “persistent and bothersome.”4 Though the evidence is not entirely consistent, the bulk of research indicates that an increased likelihood of having chronic pain is linked to older age, longer MS duration, MS subtypes other than relapsing-remitting, and greater disease severity.5 Some studies have found that women report more severe pain than men with MS,2,6 although evidence for sex differences in MS-related pain is equivocal.
