Many chronic pain sufferers 'in dark about use of medication'

The study, of about 4,400 members of the public, found many people do not know how to take pain medicines properly and are unaware of potential side effects.

Almost a third of the 1,200 people with chronic pain said they were not taking drugs as prescribed by their doctor. Many did not understand how to use their medication and 57 per cent were in the dark about potential side effects.

Chronic pain is defined as continuous pain lasting 12 weeks or more, and as many as eight million people in the UK are thought to suffer it.

Yet there is only one pain specialist for every 32,000 sufferers, according to the Public Attitudes to Pain report, the biggest of its kind on pain.

About a quarter of all people had experienced chronic pain at some point in the last five years but many were unaware of specialist pain services. Of those with chronic pain, only 23 per cent had been referred to a specialist who manages pain.

GPs were frequently the main contact but many people felt they could not ask their doctors about side effects for fear of reproach.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the exact cost of pain to the NHS and economy is unclear but back pain alone accounts for 4.9 million sick days and costs the economy 5bn a year.

Dr Beverly Collett, chair of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition forum, said: "During their five to six years of medical school, doctors spend just 13 hours on pain; this is simply not enough time to understand the complex problem presented by chronic pain."