Ethnicity and Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment

Abstract

Results support the notion that ethnic differences in pain treatment outcome exist. Further, ethnic minority groups appear to have greater levels of distress compared to Caucasians. However, African Americans, Latino/a's and Caucasians demonstrated similar improvements on all outcome measures, with exception of the use of prayer. Future studies should begin to explore the mechanisms to explain why ethnic group differences in pain treatment outcome occur.

The Pain Experience of Hispanic Americans: A Critical Literature Review and Conceptual Model

“…In national surveys, compared to NHW respondents, HAs report more severe chronic pain, 24 chronic joint pain, 14,26 and average chronic pain over the past week, 101,109 as well as fewer pain free days. 59 In clinical investigations, compared to NHWs, HAs report more severe chronic pain, 9,50,113 acute postoperative pain, 46 and acute fracture pain. 11 Some clinical investigations found similar pain severity ratings between HAs and NHWs for chronic pain, 42 postoperative pain, 93 pain in the emergency department (ED), 34,85 and pain in patients with diabetes and hypertension.…”

“…22 Another found that HA patients with chronic pain endorsed significantly higher levels of pre- and post-treatment pain-related anxiety than NHW and NHB patients. 50 To date, no investigation has examined differences in rates of comorbid anxiety disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder) or examined the effects of anxiety on HAs’ pain experience and outcomes.…”

Ethnic Differences Identified by Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire Correlate With Clinical Pain Responses

“…Forsythe et al 6 found that AAs report greater catastrophizing than NHWs. Anxiety and depression are higher in AAs as well, as studied by Gagnon et al 9 Smith and Parmelee 41 found that pain, depression, and body mass index were significantly associated with fatigue in patients. However, no ethnic differences in fatigue were displayed.…”

“…Specifically focusing on the difference in AA and NHW patients, it has been shown that AAs display greater pain intensity with experimental pain and greater reported chronic pain intensity than do NHWs. [4][5][6][8][9][10] In addition, AAs reported pain in multiple body areas more consistently than did NHWs and when asked about particular conditions, such as AIDS-related pain, postoperative pain, and joint pain, were significantly more likely to report higher pain scores. 11,12 However, these observations were not universal.…”

New care measures and their impact on pain medicine: One pain specialist’s perspective

“…Chronic pain patients can be extremely challenging to treat, in that chronic pain often involves mental health comorbidities [29], a profound sense of personal loss and frustration [30,31], reduced coping skills [32], deteriorating family and social support [33], and the misuse or abuse of pain killers [34]. Gender and ethnic differences in pain treatment outcomes can be particularly marked and have only recently been investigated [35]. Complicating the picture are federal regulations, heightened scrutiny on prescription pain relievers, and requirements set forth by the Voluntary Risk Enforcement and Mitigation Strategy, all of which have made it more difficult and time consuming to prescribe opioid pain relievers.…”