The use of the Spanish Healthcare Services: a comparison between people with and without pain

Chronic pain is a prevalent condition, requiring regular access to healthcare services. Non-chronic continuous pain may represent an early stage preceding chronic pain. We compared healthcare use due to any reason among people without pain, chronic and non-chronic continuous pain in Spain, and factors related. A cross-sectional survey in the general Spanish adult population ( n = 7058) was conducted. Participants were classified as no pain, non-chronic continuous pain, or chronic pain. Data included sociodemographic information, health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression, social support, labour consequences, and healthcare use due to any reason in the past four weeks. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with healthcare utilization in the 3 groups. Prevalence of chronic pain was 25.9%, and non-chronic continuous pain, 7.7%. Both groups used healthcare more than the no pain group (≈ 59% vs. 28%, p < 0.001). Better quality of life was consistently associated with a lower likelihood of healthcare visits across groups, while sick leave increased its likelihood, especially among chronic pain subjects (OR > 2.5). Female sex and social support were associated with healthcare use in the no-pain group, whereas increasing age was associated with fewer visits in the non-chronic continuous pain group. Chronic and non-chronic continuous pain are associated to increased healthcare utilization due to any reason. Primary care planning should prioritize integrating bio-psychosocial interventions and decoupling routine clinical care from mandatory bureaucratic disability evaluations to alleviate system overloading.