Black men suffer more chronic pain than whites: study

By Carol Forsloff

DETROIT – Black men suffer more from chronic pain than white men according to a recent research study, leading them to have more depression and disability. 

 These racial disparities are explained in the April issue of the Journal of the National Medical Association.

According to the research,  which included 1600 men, 6% of whom were black,  the black participants with chronic pain related to an accident, injury, illness, surgery or other causes were found  more likely to experience depression, affective distress and disability than white men with chronic pain.

The pain, according to the black men who participated in the study, was particularly severe which consequently led to greater disability. 

Researchers wondered why black men become more depressed and disabled than their white counterparts and found clues to this during the research.  They were able to make some determinations by examining previous studies as well as details found in the present research conclusions.

Earlier research had indicated how black women are more impacted by chronic pain and that minorities have special problems filling prescriptions for prescribed painkillers when compared with other groups.  It was therefore assumed black men might have similar difficulties.

Black men with chronic pain were found to have poorer health in general than white men and were therefore at a disadvantage and at higher risk of having difficulty supporting themselves and their families.  It was also found that pain and disability were related to alcohol use, litigation and marriage.  Married men were less apt to suffer from extreme pain.  Those who use alcohol also tend to have more pain than non-drinkers.  Men who were in litigation also expressed more pain than other men.

Carmen Green, who has done a series of studies, including this one, is a professor of anesthesiology and obstetrics and gynecology and associate professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan, was the lead on the present research.  She had this to say following examination of the results.

“Gender related differences and disparities are known. However, most studies designed to examine racial and ethnic disparities ignore gender, while those exploring gender focus primarily on a single gender, most often women,” Green says.

 Green concluded by observing the need to understand the risks poor black men face after an accident or injury by saying, “We revealed that black men are at increased risk for the worst consequences of chronic pain and larger studies are needed to examine the pain experience in this extremely understudied population.

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Posted by Carol Forsloff on Apr 17 2010. Filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry