Archive · 9 Oct 2026
Global Study Finds Women Report More Pain Than Men
Researchers studied what more than six million people in 118 countries said about pain.
They looked at pain in 11 parts of the body, from childhood to very old age.
Women reported pain more often than men in every area.
The biggest differences were in face pain, headaches and stomach pain.
For most body parts, pain rose most quickly before age 55 and then fell in older age.
Lower-body pain, such as pain in the hips and knees, could peak much later.
Back pain was the most common kind in the study, and face pain was the least common.
People in lower-income countries had more pain in later life, and the factors researchers examined explained less of it there.
Researchers analyzed self-reported pain data from more than 6.1 million people in 118 countries, covering ages 5 to 100 and above.
Women reported pain more often than men in all 11 body areas studied, with the largest differences in facial pain, headaches and abdominal pain.
Pain in most body areas rose most sharply before age 55 and declined in older age, while lower-body pain peaked at age 75 or later.
Back pain was the most common type, affecting about 40% of the population studied; facial pain was the least common, at roughly 2%.
Late-life pain was more common in lower-income countries, where the factors examined explained less of the pain burden than in North America and Europe.
- Who
- Researchers analyzing self-reported pain data from more than 6.1 million people.
- What
- A global study compared pain across 11 body areas and found that women reported pain more often than men.
- When
- The data covered people ages 5 to 100 and above; the articles do not specify the study's publication date.
- Where
- 118 countries.
- Why
- To map global patterns in physical pain using people's reports of their own pain.
- Publication
- Nature Medicine
- People included
- More than 6.1 million
- Countries included
- 118
- Body areas studied
- 11
- Reported gender differences
- Women were 83% more likely to report facial pain, 74% more likely to report headaches, and 60% more likely to report stomach or abdominal pain.
- Most and least common pain
- Back pain affected about 40% of the population studied; facial pain affected roughly 2%.
- Age patterns
- Abdominal pain peaked around age 23 and headaches around age 34; lower-body pain peaked at age 75 or later.
- Regional factors
- Smoking, obesity and low income explained up to 27% of pain burden in North America and Europe, compared with around 12% in poorer regions.
