Statistics — neuropathic pain¶
Last updated: 2026-08-30. Conflicting estimates are shown rather than averaged.
| Measure | Estimate | Population/year | Method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chronic pain with neuropathic characteristics | 3–17% | General population; studies to 2012 | 21-study systematic review | PMID 24291734 |
| Validated-tool prevalence | 6.9–10% | General population | Screening-instrument studies | PMID 24291734 |
| UK chronic pain | 43.5% (38.4–48.6) | 139,933 adults | Meta-analysis | PMID 27324708 |
| CKD neuropathic pain | 10% (6–15) | 40,678 people | Meta-analysis | PMID 33940112 |
| Painful diabetic neuropathy | 10–20% | People with diabetes | Literature synthesis | PMID 18828198 |
| Pain among diabetic neuropathy | 40–50% | Diabetic neuropathy | Literature synthesis | PMID 18828198 |
| Painful diabetic neuropathy among diabetic peripheral neuropathy | 46.7% (41.8–51.7) | 41 studies; searches through 2024-06-22 | Random-effects systematic review/meta-analysis | PMID 40107621 |
| Painful diabetic neuropathy risk: female sex | OR 1.58 (1.19–2.11) | People with diabetic peripheral neuropathy | Meta-analysis of observational studies | PMID 40107621 |
| Painful diabetic neuropathy risk: BMI ≥30 kg/m² | OR 1.62 (1.43–1.83) | People with diabetic peripheral neuropathy | Meta-analysis of observational studies | PMID 40107621 |
| CIPN month 1 | 68.1% (57.7–78.4) | 4,179 patients | Random-effects meta-analysis | PMID 25261162 |
| CIPN 3 months | 60.0% (36.4–81.6) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 25261162 |
| CIPN ≥6 months | 30.0% (6.4–53.5) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 25261162 |
| Fall/near-fall hazard with significant CIPN symptoms | HR 2.67 (1.62–4.41) | 116 patients starting taxane/platinum chemotherapy; mean follow-up 62 days | Prospective daily symptom/fall reporting; post hoc secondary analysis | PMID 27183099 |
| Fall-related medical care with vs without significant CIPN symptoms | 25.0% vs 7.1% | Same; 32 with significant symptoms and 84 without | Prospective cohort comparison | PMID 27183099 |
| SCI neuropathic pain | 53% (38.58–67.47) | 2,529 people | Meta-analysis | PMID 27341614 |
| SCI at-level pain | 19% (13.26–26.39) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 27341614 |
| SCI below-level pain | 27% (19.89–34.61) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 27341614 |
| SCI neuropathic pain, updated estimate | 57% (51–64) | 24 studies; 6,318 adults | Valid-classification systematic review/meta-analysis; I²=96.2% | PMID 41043376 |
| SCI below-level neuropathic pain, updated estimate | 30% | Same | Prespecified level subgroup | PMID 41043376 |
| SCI at-level neuropathic pain, updated estimate | 20% | Same | Prespecified level subgroup | PMID 41043376 |
| PHN after zoster | 5% to >30% | 130 studies/26 countries | Systematic review | PMID 24916088 |
| PHN persisting >1 year | >30% in some studies | PHN cohorts | Systematic review | PMID 24916088 |
| Live zoster vaccine effectiveness against herpes zoster | 45.9% (42.2–49.4) | Adults ≥50; 7 observational studies | Post-licensure systematic review/meta-analysis | PMID 36098300 |
| Live zoster vaccine effectiveness against PHN | 59.7% (58.4–89.7) | Adults ≥50; 3 observational studies | Post-licensure systematic review/meta-analysis; very-low-certainty evidence | PMID 36098300 |
| Recombinant zoster vaccine effectiveness against herpes zoster | 79.2% (57.6–89.7) | Adults ≥50; 2 post-2020 US studies | Post-hoc pooled observational analysis | PMID 36098300 |
| Trigeminal neuralgia incidence | 25.33/100,000 person-years (11.87–54.02) | 17 studies; >170 million participants; 1945–2024 | Random-effects systematic review/meta-regression | PMID 41517817 |
| Trigeminal neuralgia annual prevalence | 45.38/100,000 (15.41–133.61) | Same | Random-effects meta-analysis | PMID 41517817 |
| Central post-stroke pain | 11% (7–18) | 69 eligible papers; stroke at any location | Systematic review/meta-analysis | PMID 32451951 |
| Central post-stroke pain present at stroke onset | 26% (18–35) | Patients who developed central post-stroke pain | Meta-analysis of timing | PMID 32451951 |
| Central post-stroke pain developing within 1 month | 31% (22–42) | Same | Meta-analysis of timing | PMID 32451951 |
| Central post-stroke pain developing 1–12 months | 41% (33.9–49.0) | Same | Meta-analysis of timing | PMID 32451951 |
| Any pain in multiple sclerosis | 63% (55–70) | 17 studies; 5,319 adults with definite MS | Systematic review/meta-analysis | PMID 23318126 |
| Neuropathic extremity pain in multiple sclerosis | 26% (7–53) | Adults with definite MS | Syndrome-specific meta-analysis | PMID 23318126 |
| Neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis, updated | 26.8% | 24 studies at low risk of bias | Systematic review/meta-analysis | PMID 37777076 |
| Neuropathic pain in secondary-progressive MS | 40.3% | MS cohorts in updated synthesis | Clinical-type subgroup | PMID 37777076 |
| Neuropathic pain in primary-progressive MS | 15.6% | Same | Clinical-type subgroup | PMID 37777076 |
| Phantom-limb pain after combat amputation | 57% (46–68) | 31 studies; 14,738 military personnel | Random-effects systematic review/meta-analysis; I² 94–98% | PMID 38112578 |
| Residual-limb pain after combat amputation | 61% (50–71) | Same | Random-effects meta-analysis | PMID 38112578 |
| Chronic neuropathic pain after combat injury | 26% (10–54) | Same | Random-effects meta-analysis | PMID 38112578 |
| Neuropathic pain in burn scars at discharge | 66.5% | 915 Burn Model System participants | National longitudinal database analysis | PMID 37916448 |
| Postsurgical neuropathic fraction—breast | 68% | Persistent-pain cases | 281-study review | PMID 23273105 |
| —thoracic | 66% | Persistent-pain cases | Same | PMID 23273105 |
| —hernia | 31% | Persistent-pain cases | Same | PMID 23273105 |
| —arthroplasty | 6% | Persistent-pain cases | Same | PMID 23273105 |
| SNRI NNT for 50% relief | 6.4 (5.2–8.4) | Neuropathic-pain RCTs | NeuPSIG meta-analysis | PMID 25575710 |
| Gabapentin NNT | 7.2 (5.9–9.21) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 25575710 |
| Pregabalin NNT | 7.7 (6.5–9.4) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 25575710 |
| Capsaicin 8% NNT | 10.6 (7.4–19.0) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 25575710 |
| Duloxetine diabetic pain NNT | 5 (4–7) | 12-week trials | Cochrane review | PMID 24385423 |
| Opioid mean pain difference | −0.69/10 (−0.82 to −0.56) | 96 chronic-pain RCTs | Meta-analysis | PMID 30561481 |
| Opioid mean function difference | +2.04/100 (1.41–2.68) | Same | Meta-analysis | PMID 30561481 |
| Health utility range | 0.15–0.61 | 24 neuropathic-pain studies | Meta-analysis | PMID 20227832 |
Known conflicts and caveats¶
- Screening prevalence is not probable/definite neuropathic pain.
- CIPN estimates include painful and painless neuropathy and mix agents.
- The 46.7% painful-diabetic-neuropathy estimate is conditional on already having diabetic peripheral neuropathy; case-finding instruments significantly changed prevalence, so it is not interchangeable with prevalence among all people with diabetes.
- The updated SCI estimate used valid classification systems but retained extreme heterogeneity (I²=96.2%); classification system significantly affected prevalence and the 2016 and 2025 estimates should remain side by side.
- The CIPN fall estimate was a hypothesis generated after data collection in a small, predominantly female cancer cohort; it supports risk surveillance but not a causal effect estimate for every neurotoxic regimen.
- Postsurgical percentages are conditional on persistent pain, not incidence among all operations.
- Zoster-vaccine effectiveness estimates are observational, geographically concentrated and rated very low certainty; the recombinant-vaccine estimate was a two-study post-hoc analysis.
- Trigeminal-neuralgia estimates span eight decades and very wide intervals; changing diagnostic criteria and incorporation of imaging are plausible sources of temporal variation.
- Central post-stroke pain can appear after discharge: the timing categories are conditional on developing the syndrome and are not incidence risks for all stroke survivors.
- Multiple-sclerosis pain estimates separate all pain from neuropathic pain; the updated clinical-type and sex subgroup estimates should not be interpreted as causal because definitions and study composition vary.
- Combat-amputation estimates have I² of 94–98%, inconsistent case definitions and limited reporting of duration and impact; they are not automatically generalizable to civilian amputation.
- Burn-scar neuropathic pain was self-reported in a rehabilitation database; 66.5% is a discharge-time cohort estimate, not a population incidence rate.
- NNTs pool etiologies, doses and short trial durations.
- Utility values reflect instrument, condition and severity; they should not be pooled with symptom prevalence.