The changes in prevalence, pattern, severity and help seeking behavior should be explored in order to evaluate the attitude toward chronic pain and the efficacy of chronic pain treatment. A local study reported the prevalence of chronic pain in 2007 in Hong Kong was as high as 34.9%. The reported rate was much higher than that of Ng et al. However, the difference in methodology produced different results even though they were done in the same population, which make the comparison difficult. Besides, the treatment efficacy and help seeking behavior were not studied in this study. The differences in mode of data collection, the wording of the questionnaire and the grouping of categories also influence the results of the study. It is also desirable to have the update information of chronic pain in Hong Kong regularly (i.e. every 5 years) in view of the rapid increase in prevalence of chronic pain in Hong Kong.