Prevalência de dor cr？nica em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde de cidade de médio porte

background and objectives: pain is a multifactorial phenomenon and one of the most frequent symptoms reported during medical visits. this study aimed at evaluating the prevalence of chronic pain among users of a basic health unit (bhu) of the city of santa maria, rs. method: this is a transversal study evaluating individuals of both genders, above 18 years of age, who were in the waiting room of bhu. identification data, generic quality of life questionnaire (sf-12), functional capacity scale for chronic pain patients and visual analog scale (vas) were applied. results: from all respondents, 37.8% had chronic pain, mean age was 46.3 ± 16.4 years with predominance of females (87%). chronic pain intensity evaluated by vas was 7.38 ± 2.16. conclusion: in spite of the small sample size of this study, it is important to develop preventive strategies aiming at well-being and quality of life of chronic pain patients.