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Blacks and women prescribed weaker pain medications

African Americans and women diagnosed with chronic pain are less likely than white men to receive appropriate medications to treat their condition, according to researchers from the University of Michigan. The researchers examined the diagnosis and treatment histories of 128 patients with noncancer pain that had lasted for six months or longer. Fifty-three percent were white and 60 percent were women for the study published in the August issue of the Journal of Pain. The researchers examined the “number of potency of medications” the participants were taking and the “adequacy” of the management of their conditions at the time they were referred to the University of Michigan Health System.

African Americans and women diagnosed with chronic pain are less likely than white men to receive appropriate medications to treat their condition, according to researchers from the University of Michigan.

The researchers examined the diagnosis and treatment histories of 128 patients with noncancer pain that had lasted for six months or longer.  Fifty-three percent were white and 60 percent were women for the study published in the August issue of the Journal of Pain. The researchers examined the "number of potency of medications" the participants were taking and the "adequacy" of the management of their conditions at the time they were referred to the University of Michigan Health System.

Before getting to the university hospital, African-American patients were taking an average of 1.8 medications compared with 2.6 for white patients. Twenty-one percent of women had been prescribed a strong opoid for their pain compared with 30 percent of the men.

Based on this analysis and previous studies the researchers concluded that "pain complaints of women and minorities get less attention and lesser quality treatment from health care professionals."

Those differences can compound the problems of the patients whose condition can lead to disability, depression and other issues. In addition to the disparities in prescriptions and pain management between African American and white patients as well as difference between men and women, the researchers found differences in how the participants approached their treatment.

African Americans were more likely to say "it was easier to put up with pain than the side effects of the medications," said anesthesiologist Carmen R. Green, the study's lead author. "Men and women differed on a single item – the notion, primarily among women, to save medication in case pain gets worse."

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