Survey — Chronic pain · Results
Your experience has spoken.
1,267 people told us about their lives with chronic pain. The data collected, anonymous and aggregated, has become a tool for advocacy with institutions.
Every story counted
All answers carry equal weight, from people in pain for 2 months to those who have lived with it for 20 years.
Data that changes things
The Alliance takes the aggregated results to ministerial and regional decision-making tables.
Anonymous and secure
No personally identifiable data. Only patients' experience, protected in line with the GDPR.
The research · Methodology and partners
How this research came about
A participatory assessment process that turns patients' subjective experience into structured scientific evidence.
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Read the full methodology
The data analysis presented in this report is the result of a rigorous participatory assessment process, designed to turn patients' subjective experience into structured scientific evidence. The methodology combines advanced technology with multidisciplinary analytical expertise, both needed to tackle the complexity of chronic pain.
The technology behind the survey is the HE Survey platform, conceived and developed by Health Engine, specifically by Luca Savarese and Maurizio Vella, which enabled wide-reaching data collection and a scientific analysis of the patient experience. The interpretation of the results rests on a classification system and analytical taxonomy devised by Health Engine with the valuable collaboration of Lorenzo Latella, whose contribution made it possible to standardise the conditions and impacts reported, making the data comparable and consistent with international clinical standards.
The research was coordinated by a multidisciplinary team combining project management, advocacy and data analysis. This structure not only ensured the information was collected, but also that the research design faithfully reflected the needs expressed directly by patient associations, laying the foundations for advocacy based on real value and empirical evidence.
With the support of
Survey results
Living with chronic pain: the weight no one sees
An unprecedented picture of the impact of chronic pain on life, work and Italian society, built from the answers of those who live with it every day.
Methodological note. The survey is aimed at people living with chronic pain — pain present for at least 3 months — regardless of diagnosis. Unless stated otherwise, answers refer to the last 4 weeks. The data is anonymous and aggregated and was collected and analysed with the HE Survey platform, a non-profit, impartial initiative serving patient associations.
Data analysis
Pain can be seen
The questionnaires reveal a path of delays, gaps in treatment and an impact that goes beyond the home to weigh on work and society.
12 associations. All 20 regions. A sample that, for the first time, gives a voice to those who suffer in silence.
Section 01 · The sample
A clear profile
Conditions often diagnosed late
The sample is 83% female, and the most cited conditions are chronic diseases with a high prevalence among women, historically recognised years late.
74% say pain has changed their sex life and intimacy.
Section 02 · Impact on health care
57% have never been offered a structured pain care pathway. 718 people out of 1,267. In most cases there is a single reason: no doctor ever suggested it.
A significant treatment gap
Drug treatment dominates, but an alarming share of patients receive no active treatment at all.
Drug treatment dominates
45% drugs only, 14% combined therapy
Treatment gap
23% never started it, 11% stopped
Minority alternatives
5% non-drug, 2% devices
Diagnostic delay
The most frequent answer to the time between first symptoms and diagnosis is “more than 5 years”. A very large part of the sample lived with undiagnosed symptoms for a long time.
Care pathways are largely missing
Most patients are left to manage their condition without structured guidance: a fragmented, reactive approach rather than a strategic one.
Only 21% (266 people) are currently in a care pathway. For everyone else it is the exception, not the rule.
Section 03 · Social impact and consequences
How much it hurts: pain intensity
At its worst, almost 3 in 4 people experience pain between 8 and 10 out of 10. For 60% the pain is constant: not an occasional crisis, but everyday life.
The emotional sphere is the epicentre
Where the impact is most severe (scores 8–10): fatigue and the emotional burden outweigh purely physical limitations.
Pain reduces work
What it means for the State
Scaled to 10 million Italians · illustrative estimate based on reported values.
- Gross income not earned
- €28.9bn
- Lost revenue (income tax + contributions)
- €12.4bn
- Total private spending
- €12.1bn
- Productivity loss (presenteeism)
- ~€47bn
Calculation assumptions
- 29% reduce hours + 5% family member = 3.44 million workers
- Average gross salary: €28,000/year
- Income loss: 30% of salary
- Income tax (IRPEF) + contributions rate: 43%
- Presenteeism: reduced efficiency among those in work
From evidence to action
What can be done
Health system and institutions
- Define care pathways (PDTA) for chronic pain and shorten diagnostic times
- Train doctors to refer patients proactively to pain centres
- Include psychological support in the essential levels of care (LEA) as standard
- Recognise the hidden cost: €12.4bn in lost tax revenue
Associations and civil society
- Campaigns to reduce stigma and raise awareness
- Inform people about available therapies and access to care pathways
- Build peer support networks against isolation
- Take the data to institutional tables: this survey is a tool
Pain can be seen. Now.
1,267 people have spoken. The data is here. The next move is up to the system.
For associations and institutions
Download the full results report
All the survey's evidence in a single document, ready to share and to bring to institutional tables. The report is in Italian.
PDF · 4 MB · in Italian
Privacy notice: the data collected is anonymous and aggregated. No personally identifiable information was requested. The results are used exclusively for the Alliance's institutional advocacy, in line with the GDPR.