Improving our understanding of factors contributing to the health disparities in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain will require moving beyond heterogenous classifications of ethnicity or race group comparisons to more informative combinations of demographic variables consistent with an intersectional approach. Further, investigations at multiple levels of analysis from environmental to biological are essential to improving understanding of the complex relationships between factors in order to identify key targets and effective strategies to enhance health for all.
Associated Publications
Letter to the Editor: Evaluating Equity in the Care of Patients in Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Settings. PMID:39306025
Advancing health disparities research and improving health for all. PMID: 38768973
Environmental and sociocultural factors are associated with pain-related brain structure among diverse individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain: intersectional considerations. PMID: 38565879
Greater socioenvironmental risk factors and higher chronic pain stage are associated with thinner bilateral temporal lobes. PMID: 37984835
Applying the NIA Health Disparities Research Framework to Identify Needs and Opportunities in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Research. PMID: 34280570.
Elucidating Factors Contributing to Disparities in Pain-Related Experiences Among Adults With or at Risk for Knee Osteoarthritis. PMID: 36910251
Relationships Between Chronic Pain Stage, Cognition, Temporal Lobe Cortex, and Sociodemographic Variables. PMID: 33720889
Resilience, Pain, and the Brain: Relationships Differ by Sociodemographics. PMID: 33606287
Relationships Between Pain, Life Stress, Sociodemographics, and Cortisol: Contributions of Pain Intensity and Financial Satisfaction. PMID: 33403312
Knee Pain Trajectories Over 18 Months in Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Adults with or at Risk for Knee Osteoarthritis. Full article.