Minority Health and Health Equity Archive

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21769

Welcome to the Minority Health and Health Equity Archive (MHHEA), an electronic archive for digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. It is offered as a no-charge resource to the public, academic scholars and health science researchers interested in the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Pain

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Time to Take Stock: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review of Analgesic Treatment Disparities for Pain in the United States
    (2012) Meghani, Salimah H.; Byun, Eeeseung; Gallagher, Rollin M.
    Abstract available at publisher's website.
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    Advancing a National Agenda to Eliminate Disparities in Pain Care: Directions for Health Policy, Education, Practice, and Research
    (2011) Meghani, Salimah H.; Polomano, Rosemary C.; Tait, Raymond C.; Vallerand, April H.; Anderson, Karen O.; Gallagher, Rollin M.
    Abstract available at publisher's web site.
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    The Unequal Burden of Pain: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pain
    (2003) Green, Carmen R.; Anderson, Karen O.; Baker, Tamara A.; Campbell, Lisa C.; Decker, Sheila; Fillingim, Roger B.; Kaloukalani, Donna A.; Lasch, Kathyrn E.; Myers, Cynthia; Tait, Raymond C.; Todd, Knox H.; Vallerand, April H.
    CONTEXT: Pain has significant socioeconomic, health, and quality-of-life implications. Racial- and ethnic-based differences in the pain care experience have been described. Racial and ethnic minorities tend to be undertreated for pain when compared with non-Hispanic Whites. OBJECTIVES: To provide health care providers, researchers, health care policy analysts, government officials, patients, and the general public with pertinent evidence regarding differences in pain perception, assessment, and treatment for racial and ethnic minorities. Evidence is provided for racial- and ethnic-based differences in pain care across different types of pain (i.e., experimental pain, acute postoperative pain, cancer pain, chronic non-malignant pain) and settings (i.e., emergency department). Pertinent literature on patient, health care provider, and health care system factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in pain treatment are provided. EVIDENCE: A selective literature review was performed by experts in pain. The experts developed abstracts with relevant citations on racial and ethnic disparities within their specific areas of expertise. Scientific evidence was given precedence over anecdotal experience. The abstracts were compiled for this manuscript. The draft manuscript was made available to the experts for comment and review prior to submission for publication. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the Institute of Medicine's report on health care disparities, racial and ethnic disparities in pain perception, assessment, and treatment were found in all settings (i.e., postoperative, emergency room) and across all types of pain (i.e., acute, cancer, chronic nonmalignant, and experimental). The literature suggests that the sources of pain disparities among racial and ethnic minorities are complex, involving patient (e.g., patient/health care provider communication, attitudes), health care provider (e.g., decision making), and health care system (e.g., access to pain medication) factors. There is a need for improved training for health care providers and educational interventions for patients. A comprehensive pain research agenda is necessary to address pain disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.
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    Preference for Analgesic Treatment for Cancer Pain Among African Americans
    (2007) Meghani, Salimah H.; Keane, Anne
    Over the past decade, there has been a surge of literature related to disparities in pain treatment between minority and nonminority patients. Conspicuously lacking from this body of literature is an effort to investigate the patient-level factors that might account for undertreatment of pain among minorities. The present qualitative descriptive study was designed to gain a preliminary understanding of the preference for analgesic treatment for cancer pain among African Americans and the factors shaping these preferences. The sample (n ¼ 35) was recruited from three outpatient oncology clinics in the Mid-Atlantic region. Inclusion was based on selfidentified African Americans,>18 years of age, diagnosed with solid tumors, with self-reported cancer pain of at least one month, and no history of major surgery in the past three months. The data were gathered using demographics, the Brief Pain Inventory-Long Form, and in-depth semistructured interviews. Qualitative findings revealed that despite having overt access to pain medications, considerable intra-ethnic heterogeneity existed in the preference for analgesia among this group of African Americans. The subjective preference for analgesics for cancer pain was tied to a number of covert factors such as meaning of cancer pain treatment, past experience with pain relief and analgesic side effects, fears of dependency and tolerance, and past experience with providers and the health system. These factors should be the focus of future inquiry.