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Abstract
Chronic low back pain is one of the most common, poorly understood, and potentially disabling chronic pain conditions from which older adults suffer. The existing low back pain research has relied almost exclusively on White/Caucasian participant samples. This study examines the correlates of chronic low back pain among a sample of underserved urban African American and Latino older adults. Controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, living arrangement, and number of major chronic conditions, associations between low back pain and the following outcome variables are examined: (1) healthcare utilization, (2) health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and self-rated quality of health; and (3) physical and mental health outcomes. Methods: We recruited nine hundred and five (905) African American and Latino older adults from the South Los Angeles community using convenience and snowball sampling. In addition to standard items that measure demographic variables, our survey included validated instruments to document HR-QoL health status, the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire-2, Geriatric Depression Scale, sleep disorder, and healthcare access. Data analysis includes bivariate and 17 independent multivariate models. Results: Almost 55% and 48% of the Latino and African American older adults who participated in our study reported chronic low back pain. Our data revealed that having low back pain was associated with three categories of outcomes including: (1) a higher level of healthcare utilization measured by (i) physician visits, (ii) emergency department visits, (iii) number of Rx used, (iv) a higher level of medication complexity, (v) a lower level of adherence to medication regimens, and (vi) a lower level of satisfaction with medical care; (2) a lower level of HR-QoL and self-assessment of health measured by (i) physical health QoL, (ii) mental health QoL, and (iii) a lower level of self-rated health; and (3) worse physical and mental health outcomes measured by (i) a higher number of depressive symptoms, (ii) a higher level of pain, (iii) falls, (iv) sleep disorders, (v) and being overweight/obese. Discussion: Low back pain remains a public health concern and significantly impacts the quality of life, health care utilization, and health outcomes of underserved minority older adults. Multi-faceted and culturally sensitive interventional studies are needed to ensure the timely diagnosis and treatment of low back pain among underserved minority older adults. Many barriers and challenges that affect underserved African American and Latino older adults with low back pain simply cannot be addressed in over-crowded EDs. Our study contributes to and raises the awareness of healthcare providers and health policymakers on the necessity for prevention, early diagnosis, proper medical management, and rehabilitation policies to minimize the burdens associated with chronic low back pain among underserved older African American and Latino patients in an under-resourced community such as South Los Angeles.
Highlights
A recent study examining the most common global conditions found that low back pain ranked as the fourth most common condition in primary care visits in developed countries [1]
Almost 55% and 48% of Latino and African American older adults in our study reported chronic low back pain, a much higher prevalence than the national average for
Our findings show a much higher prevalence of low back pain for both African American and Latino underserved men and women compared to National Health Interview Study (NHIS) data for the same age group
Summary
A recent study examining the most common global conditions found that low back pain ranked as the fourth most common condition in primary care visits in developed countries [1]. Chronic low back pain is one of the most common, poorly understood, and potentially disabling chronic pain conditions from which older adults suffer [2]. A review of the literature clearly shows that both the incidence and prevalence of severe and chronic low back pain increase with older age [3]. Older adults living with low back pain often describe their golden years as “not so golden after all” [21]. The health disparity among African Americans and Latinos has been recognized and documented in the literature. Knowledge on the impact of chronic low back pain among underserved African American and Latino older adults is limited
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