Study finds women report more pain than men across all body regions studied

A study published in Nature Medicine using data from 6 million people across 118 countries found women report more pain than men in every body region studied.

• Published in Nature Medicine, the study analyzed data from over 6 million people in 118 countries, collected between 1990 and 2025.
• Women reported higher pain levels than men across 11 bodily regions, with the sharpest differences in headache, facial, and abdominal pain.
• Pain rates rose most steeply before age 55 and peaked at 75 or older, while roughly 40 percent of participants reported back pain.
• The study attributed 18.3 percent of the global pain burden to smoking, obesity, and low household income, ranging from 12.6 percent in sub-Saharan Africa to 27.1 percent in eastern Europe.