Global Prevalence of Chronic Pain Among Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Proportional Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

The pooled prevalence had very high heterogeneity (I2 = 99.32%). The single 41% estimate may not apply to a particular clinic or cancer type. All included studies were cross-sectional. They report how common chronic pain was at the time measured, not why it developed or whether treatment changed it. Half of the studies assessed female breast cancer survivors specifically. Breast cancer was only 11.6% of global diagnoses in 2022, so other cancers are underrepresented. Only one study included pediatric patients. No studies reported data from South America. The review cannot describe children or South American survivors well. Some studies used unvalidated pain scales. Some did not specify pain duration. These issues can make prevalence estimates inconsistent. Only English or Chinese studies were included. Data from other languages and regions may be missing. Egger's test suggested publication bias (p = 0.026). Trim-and-fill did not change the pooled estimate.

The authors reported nothing to declare and no conflicts of interest.

Do not read the 41% pooled prevalence as a precise estimate for every cancer survivor. The studies were highly heterogeneous (I2 = 99.32%), and prevalence varied widely by region, cancer type, and pain duration.