Abstract
This brief report details a pilot analysis conducted to explore racial differences in pain sensitivity and unpleasantness between cognitively healthy Black and White adults, stratified by sex. A total of 24 cognitively healthy adults (12 Black and 12 White) from two completed studies were matched by age and sex, and divided into two groups based on race. Stratified analyses by sex demonstrated that Black females reported experiencing pain intensity ratings of all three intensity sensations at lower temperatures than White females. These findings will inform future research studies to determine if these results hold true in a fully-powered sample and should include mixed methodologies, incorporating neuroimaging data to further assess this phenomenon. Improving pain assessment and management across racial/ethnic groups will help healthcare providers such as nurses and physicians to ensure optimal quality of life for all.
Highlights
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Geriatric Pain, a section of the journal Frontiers in Pain Research
Stratified analyses by sex demonstrated that Black females reported experiencing pain intensity ratings of all three intensity sensations at lower temperatures than White females
The focus of most research on sex differences in pain does not include race as a primary predictor variable and most research on racial differences in pain does not include within sex as a group comparison [5, 7]
Summary
Participants were selected from two completed experimental pain studies (NIH/NIA K23 AG046379 and NIH/NIA R21 AG049332) using very similar psychophysical procedures and behavioral data. Body Mass Index (BMI) Because BMI can influence the pain experience [19], BMI was calculated on each participant to ensure there were no between group differences that might confound the results. This cross-sectional study occurred over 2 days in the parent studies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize sample characteristics and pain ratings, by sex (female vs male) and race (White vs Black). All analyses were conducted using SAS 9.4 (SAS R Institute, Cary, North Carolina)
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