Disparities in chronic pain affecting management in Asian populations

Reply to Wong and Varshney

“…We fully agree with Drs. Wong and Varshney that “we should be careful in addressing [Asian Americans'] individual pain needs.” 19 To underline this point, we emphasize that the low pain prevalence we described for the Asian American population as a whole does not have any direct implication for pain treatment or management for any Asian American individual patient . That is, estimates of population averages can never direct an individual patient's needs.…”

“…We have read with great interest the Letter to the Editor from Drs. Wong and Varshney 19 about barriers to pain management, and potential challenges in pain measurement, among Asian American adults. These important points were beyond the scope of our analysis, but clearly related to our description of pain prevalence among major race/ethnic groups in the US; both are important issues in their own right.…”