Pain Perception in Latino vs. Caucasian and Male vs. Female Patients: Is There Really a Difference?

Publication/Presentation Date

6-1-2017

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pain is a common emergency department (ED) complaint. It is important to understand the differences in pain perception among different ethnic and demographic populations.

METHODS: We applied a standardized painful stimulus to Caucasian and Latino adult patients to determine whether the level of pain reported differed depending on ethnicity (N=100; 50 Caucasian [C], 50 Latino [L] patients) and gender (N=100; 59 female, 41 male). Patients had an initial pain score of 0 or 1. A blood pressure cuff was inflated 20 mm HG above the patient's systolic blood pressure and held for three minutes. Pain scores, using both a 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS) and a five-point Likert scale, were taken at the point of maximal stimulus (2 minutes 50 seconds after inflation), and at one- and two-minute intervals post deflation.

RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the Likert scale scores of Caucasian and Latino patients at 2min 50sec (mean rank: 4.35 [C] vs. 5.75 [L], p

CONCLUSION: Latinos and women report greater pain with a standardized pain stimulus as compared to Caucasians and men.

Volume

18

Issue

4

First Page

737

Last Page

742

ISSN

1936-9018

Disciplines

Emergency Medicine

PubMedID

28611896

Department(s)

Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty

Document Type

Article

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