Frequency, Nature and Management of Patient-Reported Severe Acute Pain Episodes in the Over-The-Counter Setting: Results of an Online Survey

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of participants who completed the online survey and met all eligibility criteria.

Sample size, n (%)	Australia (n = 995)	Russia (n = 1000)	UK (n = 999)	Total (n = 2994)
Males	399 (40.1)	411 (41.1)	387 (38.7)	1197 (40.0)
Age, years
18–25	106 (11)	116 (12)	107 (11)	329 (11)
26–35	229 (23)	283 (28)	229 (23)	741 (25)
36–45	241 (24)	229 (23)	234 (23)	704 (24)
46–55	237 (24)	223 (22)	261 (26)	721 (24)
56–65	182 (18)	149 (15)	168 (17)	499 (17)

Table 2. Type of pain occasion^† and severity.^‡

Type of pain and severity	Pain occasions from 6527 diary entries n (%)
Type of pain ^†
Musculoskeletal pain	2753 (42)
– Back pain	1166 (18)
– Muscular pain	816 (13)
– Joint pain	771 (12)
Headache and migraine	1570 (24)
– Headache	1402 (21)
– Migraine	168 (3)
Cold, flu and related symptoms	743 (11)
– Cold and flu	207 (3)
– Sore throat	246 (4)
– Sinus pain	145 (2)
– Cough	99 (2)
– Fever	45 (<1)
– Stomach ache	368 (6)
– Period pain	277 (4)
– Toothache	224 (3)
– Sprain/injury	172 (3)
– Hay fever	65 (<1)
– Other	335 (5)
– None of these	21 (<1)
Pain severity ^‡
– Mild	2275 (35)
– Average	3508 (54)
– Severe	744 (11)

† Diary question (single response): “And which of these pains was the ONE predominant/most intense pain you experienced today?”

‡ Diary question (single response): “Thinking of this predominant/most intense symptom, how strong were these symptoms today?”

Weighting of the data resulted in values which were not integers, so there is evidence of a rounding effect in the totals.

Figure 1. Severity and type of 6527 pain occasions.

Diary question (single response): “And which of these pains was the ONE predominant/most intense pain you experienced today?” These data were broken down based on response to diary question (single response): “Thinking of this predominant/most intense symptom, how strong were these symptoms today?”.

Table 3. Time of day of 6527 pain occasions.^†

Time	Mild pain (n = 2275), %	Average pain (n = 3508), %	Severe pain (n = 744), %	All pain (n = 6527), %
Morning
– In the morning at time of waking up	33	31	31	32
– In the morning after breakfast	13	14	13	13
– In the morning (other)	17	17	16	17
Afternoon
– In the afternoon after lunch	17	20	22	19
– In the afternoon (other)	16	18	17	17
Evening
– In the evening, before dinner	10	15	17	14
– In the evening, after dinner	11	13	19	13
– In the evening (other)	8	9	16	10
– Before going to bed	6	10	13	9
During the night	3	7	14	6
All day long	8	10	18	10

† Diary question (multiple response): “At what times today were these symptoms particularly strong?” These data were broken down based on response to diary question (single response): “Thinking of this predominant/most intense symptom, how strong were these symptoms today?”

Table 4. Pain relief action taken for 6527 pain occasions.^†

Medication	Mild pain (n = 2275), %	Average pain (n = 3508), %	Severe pain (n = 744), %	All pain (n = 6527), %
OTC medication	35	64	72	54
Prescription pain relief medication	3	7	18	7
No action taken	57	26	12	35
Other means	7	6	8	7

† Diary question (single response): “On this occasion, what if anything did you do to make yourself feel better?” These data were broken down based on response to diary question (single response): “Thinking of this predominant/most intense symptom, how strong were these symptoms today?’

Table 5. Satisfaction with action taken or medication used for 4232 treated pain occasions.^†

Satisfaction	Mild pain (n = 980), %	Average pain (n = 2595), %	Severe pain (n = 656), %	All pain (n = 4232), %
Very dissatisfied	1	1	1	1
Somewhat dissatisfied	3	4	8	5
Neutral (neither satisfied not dissatisfied)	9	7	8	8
Somewhat satisfied	46	50	47	49
Very satisfied	40	37	36	38
Not relevant (no action taken)	1	0	0	0
No treatment	0	0	0	0

† Diary question (single response): “How satisfied were you after you took this action/used this treatment?” These data were broken down based on response to diary question (single response): “Thinking of this predominant/most intense symptom, how strong were these symptoms today”