Prevalence of current chronic pain in Royal Canadian Mounted Police cadets

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported chronic pain among RCMP cadets.

		Do you experience chronic pain (i.e., pain more days than not, lasting longer than 3 months)?
Total sample	% (n)^a	Yes, % (n)	No, % (n)	OR (95% CI)
	100 (770)	9.9 (76)	90.1 (694)	—
Gender
Male	72.3 (557)	65.8 (50)	72.5 (503)	1.00
Female	25.2 (194)	32.9 (25)	23.6 (164)	1.38 (0.78, 2.41)
Gender-diverse (i.e., two-spirit, non-binary, or other [please specify])	—	—	—	—
Sex
Male	72.3 (557)	65.8 (50)	72.5 (503)	1.00
Female	25.2 (194)	32.9 (25)	23.6 (164)	1.38 (0.78, 2.41)
Age
19–29	60.0 (462)	52.6 (40)	60.4 (419)	1.00
30–39	28.1 (216)	32.9 (25)	27.5 (191)	1.40 (0.78, 2.53)
40–49	6.4 (49)	11.8 (9)	5.5 (38)	2.85 (1.17, 6.96)*
50–59	^b	^b	^b	—
Marital status
Single	47.2 (364)	44.7 (34)	47.3 (328)	1.00
Separated/divorced	1.6 (12)	^b	^b	0.61 (0.07, 5.58)
Married/common-law	43.0 (331)	44.7 (34)	42.5 (295)	0.70 (0.39, 1.24)
Province of residence
Western Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB)	53.0 (408)	76.3 (58)	50.1 (348)	1.00
Eastern Canada (ON, QC)	34.7 (267)	15.8 (12)	36.5 (253)	0.24 (0.12, 0.49)***
Atlantic Canada (PEI, NS, NB, NFL)	11.3 (87)	7.9 (6)	11.5 (80)	0.37 (0.14, 0.98)*
Northern Territories (YK, NWT, NVT)	1.0 (8)	—	1.2 (8)	—
Education
High school graduate or less	10.3 (79)	11.8 (9)	9.9 (69)	1.00
Some postsecondary school	14.5 (112)	38.2 (29)	43.7 (303)	0.73 (0.33, 1.62)
University degree/4-year college or higher	67.9 (523)	40.8 (31)	39.3 (273)	0.87 (0.40, 1.91)
Previous PSP experience
No	56.4 (434)	63.2 (48)	66.6 (462)	1.00
Yes	30.8 (237)	36.8 (28)	33.0 (229)	1.15 (0.65, 2.01)

AB = Alberta; BC = British Columbia; MB = Manitoba; NB = New Brunswick; NFL = Newfoundland; NS = Nova Scotia; NVT = Nunavut; NWT = Northwest Territories; ON = Ontario; PEI = Prince Edward Island; QC = Quebec; SK = Saskatchewan; YK = Yukon.

^aTotal percentages may not sum to 100 and ns may not sum to 770 due to nonresponse or responding “prefer not to answer.”

^bn ≤ 5; therefore, sample not reported.

*P ≤ 0.05; **P ≤ 0.01; ***P ≤ 0.001.

Table 2. Pain location, intensity, and duration.

	Lower back	Shoulder	Arm	Neck	Leg	Hand	Foot	Headaches	Other
	Location, % (n)^a
Total sample	34.2 (26)	27.6 (21)	11.8 (9)	18.4 (14)	22.4 (17)	9.2 (7)	14.5 (11)	11.8 (9)	11.8 (9)
	Intensity, M (SD)^b
Total sample	3.8 (1.8)	3.4 (2.0)	0.9 (1.4)	3.6 (2.4)	3.2 (2.7)	0.0 (0.0)	1.9 (3.0)	2.0 (2.6)	3.6 (2.8)
	Duration, M (SD) days per week
Total sample	4.6 (2.3)	5.1 (2.4)	2.1 (3.1)	4.5 (2.9)	4.6 (2.5)	1.2 (2.9)	3.9 (3.7)	1.4 (1.4)	5.3 (2.4)
	Duration, M (SD) total number of months
Total sample	63.2 (77.1)	32.9 (53.9)	3.7 (4.1)	25.9 (30.8)	38.6 (67.7)	4.2 (10.2)	28.0 (46.0)	9.0 (18.0)	26.7 (46.5)

^aTotal percentages may not sum to 100 and ns may not sum to 76 due to nonresponse. Pain location not mutually exclusive.

^bIntensity scores range from 0 to 10.

Data Availability Statement

The data sets presented in this article are not readily available. Data sets will be made available only for independent confirmation purposes and only to persons with the necessary ethical and security clearances as defined by the Research Ethics Board at the University of Regina and the contractual obligations with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Requests regarding the data sets can be made to [email protected].