"Approximately 19.0% of adults in the United States reported persistent pain in 2010, but prevalence rates vary significantly by subgroup (Table 1). Older adults are much more likely to report persistent pain than younger adults, with adults aged 60 to 69 at highest risk (AOR = 4.0, 95% CI = 2.7–5.8). Women are at slightly higher risk than men (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.2–1.7), as are adults who did not graduate from high school (AOR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.7). Approximately half of adults who rated their health as fair or poor say they suffer from persistent pain (AOR = 4.7, 95% CI = 3.7–6.0). Recent hospitalization (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3–2.1) and obesity (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3–2.0) are also linked to higher rates of persistent pain. In contrast, Latino (AOR = .5, 95% CI = .4–.6) and African American (AOR = .6, 95% CI = .4–.7) adults are less likely to report persistent pain than their white counterparts."

Source

Jae Kennedy, John M. Roll, Taylor Schraudner, Sean Murphy, and Sterling McPherson, "Prevalence of Persistent Pain in the U.S. Adult Population: New Data From the 2010 National Health Interview Survey," The Journal of Pain, Vol. 15, No. 10 (October), 2014, pp. 979-984. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.j…
http://www.jpain.org/article/…